


Maria's Adventures: Capcom Kingdom

by CrossingTheFourthWall



Series: Maria's Adventures [4]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Rockman | Mega Man Classic, Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: And lots of Robot Murder, Gen, Maria suffers a bit in this, Mind Control, and Wily being an idiot, and also connect to another fic, crossover with myself at the end, lots of robots, so to speak, the pokemon and sonic bits come in much much later, we got death (but not permanent)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 16:05:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 61,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11383635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrossingTheFourthWall/pseuds/CrossingTheFourthWall
Summary: Maria's step into a new world leads her into a darker realm, where a villain is starting to gain the upper hand. After an accident that gives her an upgrade -- and new abilities -- she finds herself given just as many new weaknesses as she is new strengths....





	1. Prologue

**Dream Break**

            _"WHAHAHAHAHA! I've got you this time!"_

_"Wh-what the -- what have you done?!"_

_"Dad, we've got to stop him!"_

            **Dream Break**

            A figure sat upright in bed, shaking her head as she thought back to the dream she had experience a moment before. She glanced at the clock - 6:30 on a Friday in May. She should be getting ready for school.

            That is, she _would_ have been getting ready, except that school had been canceled. While the girl was grateful for this, the fact that the cancellation had come about because people were disappearing worried her.

            The girl let out a sigh and slipped down the ladder to the ground floor, reaching the carpet just as her sister got out of her own bed.

            "I've gotta go again," the upper-bunk girl told her sister. "Another world's in trouble."

            "I've gotta go, too," the sister responded. Her grin lit up the dark room. "You're not the only one who gets visions, now. I know where everyone's been disappearing to."

            The first girl's eyes widened. "No way."

            "Yes way. And I'm going to help get everybody back - including our brothers." The second girl gave the first a curious look. "Are you going to come with?"

            The first shook her head. "I've got to go to a different world. If I get done with what I've got to do soon enough, then maybe I can come to clean up."

            The second nodded. "Maybe, if I finish first, then I'll come and help _you_ clean up."

            The first laughed. "We'll have to see about that. If you get a vision about me being in trouble, then come and find me, all right?"

            "Same for me." The second girl gave a thumbs-up motion.

            Two bright flashes lit up the room for a moment, and then it was empty of the two girls.

            However, there was a piece of paper lying on the floor: _"We went out to take care of a few things on other worlds. We'll be back soon with our brothers and the other missing people. M and L."_

            When the parents stepped into the room a couple of hours later, they found the note and neither one of their daughters.

            The mother -- a woman with dark, frizzy hair and concerned green eyes -- turned to her husband. "It looks like all of our children are gone. What are we going to do? We have to--"

            "They'll be just fine without us," the husband replied calmly. "Maria and Liz are World Jumpers now, remember? They'll be able to take care of this without us getting involved."

            "I know that, Morgen. It's just that..." The wife rubbed her arm nervously -- a nervous tick that her eldest daughter had picked up on -- and looked around the empty bedroom. "I can't help but get the feeling that our children are going to come home changed somehow."

            "They're growing up, Katie," Morgen stated calmly in reply. "I'd be surprised if they _weren't_ changed somehow. Come on -- let's go get some breakfast and stop worrying about our World-Jumping children."


	2. A Grand Entrance

            Thunder rumbled in the dark skies above the equally dark city. A few rats ran through the shadows, but nothing else moved.

            Nothing, that is, except for the clanging boots of a figure that sent the rodents running in all directions.

            "Patrol of the sector is complete," the figure seemingly reported to no one. "I haven't seen any of those Lightbots."

_::Good. Continue patrolling and report in if you find anything suspicious::_

            "Understood." The figure walked past an alley, eyes alert for anything suspicious that might be brought to his attention.

            A sudden flash from the alley caused the figure to pause, however, and he turned in order to see what it was. His eyes widened a moment later out of surprise.

            At the alley's dead end, there was a swirling blue circle of energy. While the figure with the metal boots looked at the circle with an expression of shock and surprise, someone stepped out of the energy.

            Two feet came down onto the concrete as the blue energy dissipated. The butt of a red staff tapped the ground in a somewhat impatient manner as the newcomer started to look around, brown hair shifting over her shoulders.

            "I didn't think that I'd end up in a place like this. I thought I'd end up in a lab owned by...." The newcomer's voice trailed off when she caught sight of the figure with the metal boots standing in the open end of the alley.

            The one with the metal boots looked the newcomer over, trying to gauge the danger level of the person who had appeared out of nowhere. _Clothes are human -- probably a human civilian -- weird looking staff -- human is most likely non-threatening. Energy from before has dissipated -- is the human the source? Or was there a machine involved?_

            "Who are you?" the one with the metal boots demanded.

            The newcomer paused for a moment, frowning slightly. She pointed the head of the staff -- which had a strange-looking bird on top -- at the other figure. "You're one of those Robot Master things, right? You look like you were made to chop apart trees or something."

            The metal figure stiffened when he heard that. This human would _dare_ to compare him to _that_ _Lightbot's_ job?

            "I am not some stupid robot that was made to take that stupid CutMan's place!" He roared, bringing out his signature saw blades. "I am MetalMan, human! And you're about to face my wrath."

            The human shifted her feet, gripping the staff with both hands. "I don't think so." She lifted her staff over her head, and a moment later, electricity branched out and hit MetalMan's form, slipping into his joints and arching over his armor.

            "Gah!" he exclaimed, thrown back by the sudden attack. "Why you little -" He dropped the end of the sentence as he got up from the ground. "You're gonna pay for that!" A pair of saw blades appeared in his hands, and he threw them at the girl, who dodged them with an unusual amount of speed.

            The girl grinned. "Do you really think that's going to take me out all that easily? I've faced humans that were more dangerous than you with attacks that took them down pretty quickly. For instance..." She held up one arm and, much to MetalMan's surprise, summoned a fireball, which she promptly threw at him, getting the robot square in the chest.

            He quickly shook this off, however, and glared at the girl with newfound hatred. MetalMan then charged at her, his arm swinging back for a punch, which was not exactly expected by his opponent. However, she managed to prepare herself for it, and his fist met her staff. Once again, electricity coursed through the staff and MetalMan's systems, causing him to fall back.

            "Grrr..." MetalMan was becoming more and more surprised and angered by this strange girl's abilities. At least she hadn't used his weakness yet, if she could at all.

            The two began to circle, ready to strike when the opening came.

            "Who are you, anyway?" MetalMan demanded

            The girl smirked. "I'd prefer to keep that to myself, Metal." She charged the staff up with more electricity and swung it like a bat at him. This time, however, he saw it coming and moved out of the way in time.

            MetalMan began to summon his saw blades again, deciding that he needed to try a different tactic. The girl took note of the sharp pieces of metal, but didn't try anything to stop him.

            "Another round?" she asked with a smirk. "Puleeease! I'll just throw what I've got right at you!"

            MetalMan realized that she didn't know about his recent upgrades, and he inwardly smirked. She was going to be in for the surprise of her life.

            He pointed his blades at her and joined his arms together to create a cannon that was the size of a bazooka. Then, the build-up of power that had been created when he had summoned his blades was released as a barrage of metal shards.

            The human didn't have a chance to fend off the attack as it enveloped her, which caused her to scream in pain. Once the attack had faded, he got a look at the result.

            The girl had suffered a lot of damage - even by robotic standards. Her clothes had somehow been torn in random areas, and red spots had begun to appear on her jeans and her jacket sleeves. She was also leaning heavily on her staff, her face pale.

            "What do you say to that?" MetalMan asked.

            The girl glared at him. "White...Flare!"

            MetalMan frowned, then gasped as a white fire surrounded her and exploded out, attacking him, searing through him, melting his circuits. When the fire left him, MetalMan was nothing but a melted husk.

            The girl let out a low groan as her grip slid down the staff. A moment later, it dissipated into the air, and she collapsed.

            A couple seconds later, one more figure appeared, standing up on a rooftop nearby. This one had a rounded head, almost spherical in shape, with squares in a dotted line from the front of the figure's head to the back. The figure's arms seemed to widen out a little below the elbows into elongated spheres, and then the hands were at the other ends.

            The figure jumped down from rooftop to rooftop until it reached the ground, not far from where the girl lay. Running over to where the two were lying on the ground, he quickly examined MetalMan first, just to be sure that he wasn't getting up anytime soon, and then the girl. Upon realizing that she was badly damaged, the figure carefully picked up the girl; he knew what to do. Turning around to face the way he had come, the figure ran down the street and further into the city.

            "Hang in there," the figure murmured to the girl. "Just hang in there."


	3. Haven

            Maria snapped her eyes open, only to find herself staring at a ceiling. She frowned, a little confused upon finding that she wasn't in her room, then remembered what had happened before she had blacked out. She sat up instantly, only to become dizzy from the speed of the move. After a moment, though, the dizziness passed, allowing her to have a look around.

            She was in some sort of lab, and, although cluttered with tools, was obviously well-cared for. It also had the most up-to-date (and probably beyond) technology that could be obtained.

_Tails would have a field day with all of this tech,_ Maria noted _._ Then she frowned. _But what am I doing here? The last thing I remember is..._ The thought trailed off as she thought about what had happened to her and MetalMan. She then looked her body over for the wounds that she had received from the attack her enemy had unleashed.

            Much to her surprise, there wasn't a single tear or scratch anywhere on her body or her clothes, almost as if the Wilybot's attack hadn't taken place.

            This, coupled with the strange disappearance of her Atlantean crystal, worried her.

            While she was thinking about this, the closed door of the lab opened up, causing Maria to look up as a figure entered the room. The figure, who was completely dressed in white and had a white beard and blue eyes, seemed surprised at seeing Maria sitting up.

            The figure came over to Maria's left side, looking her over as he did so. "How do you feel?" he inquired.

            "Pretty good," Maria admitted calmly, "Considering that I had been almost torn to shreds by MetalMan. How long have I been out of it?"

            "About two weeks. There was a lot of shrapnel to remove."

            Maria nodded. "Yeah; I'm surprised that none of them actually managed to tear up my heart. By the way, I had a blue crystal hanging around my neck when I blacked out. Any idea where it is?"

            The man beside her frowned. "It was torn apart by MetalMan's Shrapnel Blast. I'm sorry."

            Maria frowned, but didn't say anything concerning the subject. "So, who found me, then? I'm pretty sure that there wasn't anybody around who could have rescued me in time."

            "No one lives in that section of the city anymore, I'm afraid. You were lucky that one of my lab assistants found you in time."

            Maria frowned, then realized what the man was saying. "You mean that MegaMan found me, right?"

            The man nodded. "That's right." He suddenly realized something. "Oh! I forgot to introduce myself!"

            Maria smiled. "That's all right. I know who you are...Dr. Light." She held out her right hand for the scientist to shake. "The name's Maria White. It's an honor to finally meet you."

            Dr. Light frowned slightly as he shook her hand. "White? An odd choice for a last name."

            "I adopted it some time ago, and it kinda grew on me," Maria explained with a nervous grin.

            She was about to say something else when a pair of new figures barreled into the room, both of them stopping at the end of the table with Maria's feet, surprise clear on their faces. One of them, a girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and wearing a green bow in her hair as well as a red dress, recovered from her surprise first and moved over to Maria's right side.

            "Hello!" she greeted. "I'm Roll."

            "Hi, Roll," Maria replied. "I'm Maria. It's nice to meet you." She looked over at the other figure, who was a boy with brown hair, blue eyes, and was wearing an outfit that consisted of a white shirt with short, blue sleeves, jeans, and shoes that went all the way up to his knees. "And you are?"

            "I'm Rock," the boy replied. He walked over to stand by Dr. Light. "What did you do to MetalMan?"

            Maria frowned. "All I did was hit him with a fire attack. Why?"

            The three stared at her in astonishment.

            "When I got to him, he was nothing more than a pile of melted metal!" Rock exclaimed.

            A look of surprise crossed Maria's face. "Really? I wasn't planning on hitting him that hard. I guess I've been underestimating White Flare...although, I haven't really been able to fully test it, yet..."

            "White Flare?" Roll repeated. "I haven't heard of anything like that before."

            "It's my strongest Fire move," Maria explained. "I basically attack using multiple tendrils of white fire that do a search-and-destroy technique automatically. Since all of them attacked Metal at once, he was melted. It's my most powerful move, and I can only use it once in a while because it takes a large amount of my energy, so I only use it when I'm in danger."

            Rock's eyes widened. "Wow. Fire's gonna be so jealous when he hears about that!" He looked up at Dr. Light. "Do you think we could get the others in here?"

            "I don't know if everyone's going to fit in here," the roboticist responded.

            Maria glanced around, taking note that the room was crowded when there were three people standing and one person lying on a table.

            "I bet I can walk out and meet the others in a larger room," Maria remarked. She swung her legs over the left side of the lab table and slid off. Much to her surprise, her legs buckled under her weight, and she collapsed.

            "Are you all right?" Roll asked, coming over in order to help Maria up.

            "Yeah," Maria responded. "I guess my leg muscles aren't exactly up to walking yet." She stretched one of her arms out, and her staff materialized, allowing her to get up on her feet properly.

            "Where did that come from?" Rock asked, leaning forward a little in order to get a better look at the staff.

            "Honestly, I have no specific idea," Maria answered. "I figured out that I could summon it last year, and I've used it ever since." She looked at the staff fondly, only for her eyes to widen in surprise. "That wasn't there before," she remarked, tracing one of the neon green lines that had appeared on her staff. "Now it looks like some sort of circuit board."

            Rock and Dr. Light exchanged glances, but the teen didn't notice.

            Eventually, the teen shrugged. "Must be because of the world I'm in - something to blend in, maybe." She looked over at Dr. Light, who was giving her a curious look. "So, where do I get introduced to everybody else?"

            The roboticist smiled ruefully, the curiosity momentarily leaving his face. "They've been waiting outside of this room for the past hour," he replied. Dr. Light moved over to the door and got ready to open it as Maria came over, leaning heavily on her staff as she did. "Are you ready?"

            Maria smirked. "I'm ready," she responded. "This shouldn't be so bad."

            Dr. Light nodded, then turned the handle and threw the door wide open, revealing ten figures mulling around in the room beyond. Upon seeing the door open, and Maria step out confidently, they all dashed over and crowded around the newcomer as Rock, Roll, and Dr. Light stepped out of the lab.

            "Hi!" a little boy dressed in arctic gear greeted. "I'm IceMan!"

            "Hey," Maria greeted in response. "The name's Maria. Who might the rest of you be?"

            "I'm GutsMan!" exclaimed a large, hulking figure in the back of the group.

            "Yo! I'm Auto!" a second greeted. He looked like some sort of conglomeration of parts, some of which seemed to have come from a car - like his eyes, which looked like red headlights.

            "The name's Elec," a third figure stated. Maria took note of the lightning bolt that surrounded his eyes and mentally added the "Man" that most Robot Masters had in their names.

            "Hey," a black figure stated. "I'm OilMan."

            "And I am TimeMan," a figure in a purple jumpsuit added.

            "Hi! I'm CutMan!" an orange-and-white figure greeted, waving his left hand wildly in a wave.

            "The name's BombMan," a figure with a Mohawk stated, a smirk on his face.

            "Rowf!" a red, robotic dog added, jumping up so that his front paws were on Maria's chest.

            "Down, Rush," Rock said, laughing. The dog instantly complied, retreating to Rock's side, panting happily.

            "And I'm FireMan," a figure with a torch on his head introduced. "So, what can you do, kid?"

            "I'm a fire user," Maria responded calmly. To prove her point, she created a small Fire Sphere in her left hand. "I've been one for a few years, now."

            Fire gave her a look of astonishment, his eyes widening. "Th-that's impossible. No human can exhibit that kind of power."

            "Well, I'm not exactly from around here, so I've got a bit more wiggle room than most people do when it comes to abilities," Maria explained with a smirk. She looked around the room, taking note of the couch cushions and video game controllers that were scattered about. "So, what exactly have you guys been doing? The part of the city that I ended up in looked like someone had thrown a nuclear bomb at it."

            "I guess you could say that," Rock remarked, a nervous look on his face. He frowned slightly. "You mentioned something about blending in on this world back in the lab. What did you mean by that?"

            Maria's eyes widened, but then she chuckled nervously, the surprise leaving her face. "I guess I should've been a little more careful with my words," she noted. "Ah, well."

            "So, you are from another place," Rock stated.

            "Not just another place, I'm afraid. I'm talking another planet."

            The group stared at Maria in astonishment.

            "Would you mind explaining what you mean?" Dr. Light inquired.

            "I don't mind," Maria responded coolly. "You see, the entire universe is separated into different 'kingdoms', if you will. Each one kingdom is not like the others, and is connected in some way or fashion to my home world, which is pretty much situated in the center of the universe because of this. Some time ago, I had a vision that involved you guys in the Capcom Kingdom running into some trouble, so I came by to see if I could help."

            The Masters exchanged glances, while Dr. Light gave Rock and Roll a curious look.

            "Why did you come here, and not go to another...kingdom?" Light inquired.

            Maria shrugged. "I got the vision from this place, not from anywhere else. I don't really think that the other kingdoms are having too much trouble right now."

            "I don't know if-"

            "Dr. Light!"

            The roboticist was cut off when a boy in a red-and-gray jumpsuit and red-and-white helmet and sunglasses dashed into the room, followed by a figure in a black-and-purple jumpsuit with what looked like a cobra's hood on the back of his head.

            Dr. Light turned to look at the two robots. "What is it, Blues? And where are ShadowMan and PharaohMan?"

            "Shadow is making sure that we weren't being followed," Blues explained. "We lost Pharaoh to SplashWoman when she exploded."

            Maria's eyes widened. "Exploded?"

            Blues looked in her direction and nodded. "Wily has been adding self-destruct systems to his Robot Masters, so that they can't be reprogrammed.

            Maria's eyes narrowed. "As if he hasn't reprogrammed enough of them himself already?"

            "He wants to make sure that I don't get my hands on them," Dr. Light explained. "If they were ever defeated in battle, he sees than as useless to him and no longer needed."

            "Our tracks have been covered." A figure dressed in a ninja outfit with a ninja star on his forehead appeared out of nowhere. "Splash and Pharaoh's remains have been buried."

            Blues nodded. "Good."

            The cobra-headed figure stepped forward to stand in front of Maria, looking her over curiously. "What's your name, kid?"

            "Maria," Maria replied.

            "She's the one I told you about, Bass," Rock explained. "The kid who melted MetalMan two weeks ago."

            The robot's red eyes widened. "Well, well, never thought she looked like this. How'd you do it, kid?"

            "An attack called White Flare," Maria explained. "I haven't used it very often, though - it takes a lot of energy."

            "How do you release it?"

            Maria frowned slightly, bringing up the memories of her using the attack. "I release it out of my body - I think every pore of it is involved in releasing the energy. Then the fire does this whole seek-and-destroy thing - like heat seeking missiles, only they go for my enemies."

            Bass grinned. "Now that is a cool attack. You should really show it off sometime."

            "Only if I have to. That attack is a last resort, and only if I'm cornered." Maria looked around the room at the group. "So, what's Wily up to?"

            "Trying to take over the world - again," Rock replied. "Only this time, he's got a lot more than just eight Robot Masters."

            "More than eight?" Maria repeated. "That's pretty much unheard of at home. The bad guy always has a limit of eight in this realm."

            "Well, it isn't so simple this time," Blues stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "Somehow, Wily managed to get his hands on all his bots. We managed to get it down to sixteen not too long ago. Counting what happened to MetalMan and Splash Woman, it's fourteen, now."

            "Well, that isn't so bad, I guess." Maria rubbed the back of her head with her left hand. "Who's left?"

            "HeatMan, WoodMan, AirMan, QuickMan, CrashMan, GeminiMan, Enker, FlashMan, BubbleMan, Punk, Ballade, AstroMan, SwordMan, and SnakeMan," Rock listed. "Compared to our numbers, we're at a bad disadvantage."

            "Let me help. I may still be recovering from MetalMan's attack, but I'm not one to simply sit around and do nothing." Maria gave the group a confident grin.

            "How do we know that you're not a trap Wily set up?" Bass asked, frowning. "I mean, throwing around an attack like you described...there's no way a human should be able to do that, now that I think about it."

            Maria shrugged. "There are humans who are capable of doing crazier things that I am, Bass. Many have been damaged to within an inch of their life and they've come back stronger than before - maybe even with more powerful abilities than what they originally had."

            "Still, it's kinda odd."

            **Maria's POV**

            Bass' statement seemed to set something off at the back of my head, causing me to recall the voices I'd been hearing at the back of my head - M, the strange woman who had been guarding my memories back on Neo-Mobius; the voice that had come out of the woodwork when I had first used my abilities. Why was that a trigger? Why was she the one who got me my memories back?

            And why was it that I felt that I was mentally missing something? I had recovered all of my memories after the whole problem with Team Galactic...didn't I?

            I was suddenly aware of a hole in my memories that I hadn't noticed before.

            "Hey, are you all right?" Roll brought me out of my thoughts. "You kind of spaced out for a minute, there."

            "Sorry," I stated with an apologetic smile. "I just remembered something, that's all."

            "What?" Rock asked.

            "Last time that I was off-world, I lost my memory for a time, but then I managed to get it back...at least, most of it. There's a hole that I haven't been able to fill up yet."

            "Why haven't you?" Blues inquired. The movement of his visor was the only thing that hinted at a frown.

            "It hasn't really come across as anything I'd really need to now about myself. But, really, now that I think about it, a lot of things about me might be explainable. My fire abilities, for instance - Mom told me that she and Dad hadn't shown any sort of ability like that. She did mention, though, that she and Dad had gone to another world before. Where, Mom hasn't said yet."

            I looked over at Dr. Light, who appeared to be lost in thought. "But my past really isn't the point right now. Dr. Wily's gotta be stopped, and I'm willing to help. Will you let me?"

            The Robot Masters, Rock, Roll, Bass, Blues, Dr. Light, and Rush all looked at me for a moment, then exchanged glances with each other. I leaned against my staff as I waited for their verdict on the matter, but I didn't particularly care, because when push came to shove, I was going to help them out whether they wanted an assist or not.

            While I waited, I noticed that my staff seemed a little bit...off. Maybe it was because of the accident with MetalMan or maybe it was something else, but I knew that something was wrong. Problem was, I couldn't tell what was up.

            "This is going to take some time for us to think over," Dr. Light finally stated. "For now, I'd appreciate it if you didn't try anything that could slow your recovery."

            I raised an eyebrow, taking note of the slightly nervous look on Dr. Light's face. Something had definitely set him on edge, and whatever it was, he didn't look like he wanted to say.

            I let out a sigh. "I can understand your concern. If I still had my Atlantean crystal, my healing abilities might have been increased in power. Since I don't have it anymore, there's no point in trying to push it."

            "Atlantean crystal?" Roll repeated, frowning.

            "Yeah - a gift I got from my first world. There, it's known for being capable of speeding recovery and warning a person whenever danger or friends are nearby." I absently reached for a spot on my red shirt, but then stopped when I remembered that the crystal was no longer there. "Course, I don't exactly have it anymore..." I let out a yawn. "So, got a place where I can sleep?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "kingdom" idea that Maria is talking about is one that I had in my head when I started writing this stuff. It's basically Maria's way of saying different dimensions are separated according to the people who have access to them -- like how Disney is all in Kingdom Hearts. I was kinda going off that. Now, though, I don't really use the "kingdom" analogy so much.


	4. Chapter 4

            Maria looked around the room and let out a sigh, running a hand through her brown hair. "Well, it's certainly not a palace, but it'll do." She nodded to Roll, who was standing in the doorway. "Thanks for saving my life."

            "It was all Doctor Light's work," Roll stated, embarrassed.

            "I'm sure you had a hand in it," Maria replied with a smile. She limped over to the bed - which had baby blue covers - and sat on it, looking around at the identically colored walls. "You're one of his lab assistants, after all."

            Roll nodded, green eyes bright. "Yeah." She started to close the door.

            "And, if you guys need any help with taking out those 'bots, don't be afraid to ask." Maria winked and gave Roll a thumbs-up. "I'm all for going after them when I'm officially back on my feet."

            Roll nodded, a quiet smile on her face, before she closed the door the rest of the way.

            Maria's blue eyes went from cheerful to a frown as soon as the door was shut. Getting herself fully onto the bed, she looked over her staff more closely, frowning at the green circuit lines that cut across the red, wooden surface. "This didn't change when I got most of my memories back in the Nintendo Kingdom. Something must have happened while I was out that caused this..." She dropped the staff on her chest, running a finger along one of the lines, watching the lights respond with soft pulsing that ran down the staff.

            Maria let out a yawn, then watched lazily as the staff disappeared in a shower of sparks - an act which she found mimicked that of the Keyblades of the Disney Kingdom. This caused her to remember the crystalline shard she had once worn, and she fingered the area of her shirt where it had once lain. "Man...I wonder what could have happened... Those shards didn't seem to be fragile enough to be destroyed by mere pieces of metal. They came from a crystal that preserved an entire civilization, for Chaos' sake! How could MetalMan's attack have trashed it?" The teen crossed her arms over her chest, allowing them to drop onto her chest...causing Maria to stiffen when a loud clanging noise echoed though the room.

            "What?" Maria sat up slowly, tapping her chest curiously. "Since when did I have a metal plate for a chest?" She looked down, inspecting her body with careful scrutiny. "Is this another one of the secrets that was kept from me? What did Dr. Light have to do in order to keep me alive?" She flopped back down on the bed and let out a sigh. "I'm going to have to ask him when I see him again about what he did specifically. I wonder if he just had to cover my form with reinforced steel to help it recover...or if he had to replace parts of me entirely?" Maria covered her face with her hands and let out another sigh, then let her arms fall to her sides. "This worry isn't going to get me anywhere. I may as well put it out of my head for the night." A frustrated look appeared on her face. "Like it's going to be as easy as keeping that weird hole in my memory away. How in the world that came back after so long, I have no clue." The teen carefully maneuvered her form under the covers, still sending the occasional glare at her chest. Letting out another sigh, the brunette muttered, "I'm so going to ask Dr. Light about this." With that, she slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**3rd POV**

            Dr. Light looked over at Roll as she entered his lab. "Well?"

            "Blues is keeping an eye on the security system from her room," Roll responded quietly. "When I left, she was giving her chest panel the evil eye." She frowned slightly. "That is what the look is called, right? When you're suspicious of something?"

            "Yes, I believe that's the proper term." Dr. Light gave Rock's MegaBuster a final look over before nodding to the makeshift Robot Master. "All right, Rock. I don't think you should have any problem with freezing up."

            "Thanks, Dad," Rock replied. He jumped off the berth as he deactivated his armor. "So, what are we going to do about Maria? She seems pretty eager to help us out."

            "She's already suspecting about what we've done," Blues stated from where he stood in the doorway, startling Roll. "Maria just slipped into recharge, and the audio was picking up mutterings about wondering if we're keeping other secrets from her besides a reinforced steel chest."

            "How did she-"

            "She dropped her arms on her chest in an annoyed fashion." Blues gave Dr. Light a look that the roboticist was capable of deciphering merely because of the time the two had interacted in the past. "You're going to have to tell her. That disguise you set up isn't going to last forever."

            Dr. Light let out a sigh. "I'm more than aware of that, Blues." He frowned slightly. "What intrigues me about her, however, is that staff she carries. I believe that I might have seen a design like that before. Perhaps in the history books?" The roboticist shook his head. "Honestly, it's surprising that she is even capable of creating such a thing from mid-air."

            "I don't think that's completely true," Rock piped up. "When she brought the staff into existence, I picked up a minor energy surge, like she was summoning it from somewhere. Maria could have access to a pocket dimension or something."

            "Is that even possible?" Roll asked softly. "Do humans even have access to something like that?"

            "Not around here," Dr. Light responded. "That story about her coming from another world is becoming more and more cemented, it seems. Blues, did the audio sensors pick up anything else about Maria?"

            "She mentioned getting her memories back in the Nintendo Kingdom, and something about that crystal being a part of a larger one that sustained the life of an entire civilization." Blues frowned slightly. "We're going to have to figure out more about this girl's past if we're going to make heads or tails of that."

            "I doubt she'll find the information relevant to our current situation," Dr. Light noted. "Considering we're having our own problems with Albert..." He looked over in one corner of his lab. "You know, I think we will have to take Maria up on her offer."

            Rock's blue eyes widened. "You can't be serious."

            "Rock, we're desperately in need of something that will throw Albert off. Maria might provide us with the edge we need in order to take him down." Dr. Light stroked his beard thoughtfully, and the three robots in the room knew that the gears were turning in his head. "It will also be interesting to see what sort of reaction that staff will have to what I was forced to do."

            "We could all see that it was starting to get integrated, Dad," Rock pointed out. He frowned slightly. "But...when are we going to tell her? She might end up figuring it out herself if we don't get to her soon enough."

            "I doubt that, Rock. Unless it malfunctions, I doubt that she'll be seeing what we did unless I deactivate it myself."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, you all know what happened to Maria.


	5. Chapter 5

**Maria's POV**

            I opened my eyes with a snap, my mind clear. This instantly set me on edge - normally, when I wake up, it takes me a minute or two to get fully awake and ready to roll.

            I sat up quickly, looking around the room, taking note that I was in the same room I had been in the night before, cementing the thought that I was actually in Light Labs, which set my heart a-flutter. If Joshua saw this, he'd be reacting much more like the rational kid he is, going over every single piece of tech and trying to gleam whatever secrets he could from Dr. Light or the other Robot Masters present. I never got to see him too often - especially considering that he lived about a day's drive away, and that one of the only reasons he ever showed up was because his family was in the area, visiting one of my neighbors - who happened to be a cousin of his.

            I'd like to get to know him a little better - he seems pretty nice.

            Shaking thoughts of the boy out of my head, I yanked the covers off and attempted to stand on my feet, ready to summon my staff in case my legs weren't quite ready to take on the challenge of standing without a crutch. To my surprise, my legs were capable of holding up my weight - either this meant that there were some residual energies left behind from the Altantean crystal shard, or something else was at work here. Considering the strange metallic noise that had resounded from my chest before I fell asleep, I thought that it was most likely the latter.

            I turned and looked the bed over, and decided that, out of common curtesy, I'd try to make it look a little better than just having all the sheets bunched up against the wall. I was moving the sheets back to their proper place when the doorway opened and Roll entered.

            "Oh, you don't need to do that!" Roll exclaimed, seeing what I was doing.

            "It's a responsibility I have for my own bed back at home," I replied stubbornly. "I may as well carry it over here, so long as I'm staying." I finished what I was doing - leaving the bed rather lumpy, but "made" - and turned my attention to the blonde-haired robot. "So, what's up?"

            "Dr. Light asked that I get you," Roll responded. She still looked a little nervous at the sight of me taking care of the bed, but the emotions didn't take over her completely. "He wanted to ask you a few questions."

            "Uh...okay." I walked over - and flinched a little at the metallic noise my shoes made against the floor. How was it that I didn't hear that before? "The Doc didn't reinforce my shoes, did he?"

            "Not that I'm aware of," Roll replied, a frown appearing on her face. "You can probably ask him about it."

            "Sounds good. I've got a few other questions besides that, as well." I followed Roll out of the room, taking note that my legs didn't exhibit any of the "I'm gonna collapse now" tendencies they had before. I may not be a doctor - or even interested in becoming one - but I've read enough fiction to know that muscles don't just decide to suddenly heal themselves and be capable of supporting a body's weight.

            After working our way through the halls - as I attempted to commit the route to memory for later - we arrived in the room that I had met the Robot Masters in before going off to take my nap. Unfortunately, I had yet to figure out how long I had been out of it, or even the time, for that matter. Doctor Light must rely on inner clocks in the bots in order to keep track of time or something...

            Speaking of the doc, he was standing in the middle of the "rec room" with Blues, who had his arms crossed over his chest in an annoyed manner.

            "Good morning, Maria," Dr. Light greeted. Well, at least I have a hint as to the time, now. "How did you sleep?"

            "Like a rock," I responded with a smirk. "Roll said you wanted to ask me a few things."

            "Yes, I did." Dr. Light gave me a curious look. "You seem pretty comfortable here, despite that you claim to be from another world. Why is that?"

            "I have access to devices that allow me to watch what's going on in other worlds," I explained calmly. "For instance, there's a video game series that revolves around Rock - who is the main playable character. There are other video games that portray different realities of this world - even a possible future."

            "Possible future?"

            "It kind of depends on how things play out here, I guess." I shrugged. "At least, that's how I understand it from my interaction in the other worlds I've been to."

            "Truly?" Blues' visor shifted; whatever emotion he was trying to convey, I wasn't exactly sure. "Your knowledge of other worlds is that great?"

            I looked down at my feet and shifted my left foot a little out of embarrassment, frowning slightly when the edge of the shoe seemed to shimmer metallically in the light. "Not as great as I would like it to be. There are infinite worlds out there, and I only have access to the more well-known ones. Sure, the rest are based off the ones I know about, but the changes that are enacted can make things...unpredictable." I looked over at Dr. Light. "For instance, the present war you're in wasn't mentioned."

            Dr. Light frowned slightly, one eyebrow rising. "Interesting. Then you know something of the Robot Masters?"

            "Not everything, but I know enough." I gave a sheepish shrug. "I don't play the video games based off your world myself, but my brothers do. I supplemented that knowledge by looking up things online." The thought crossed my mind of the future games, but I pushed those away - I doubted that Dr. Light had even started that project yet. "But, despite the fact that I don't know everything, I can still help, if you'll let me." My hands flickered, becoming slightly blurred as I coated them in flames, then allowed the power to dissipate. The odd thing, though, was that the blurring didn't stop. Raising my hands to inspect them more closely, a scowl came across my features. "Okay. First I find out that there's a metal plate in my chest, then my shoes seem to be reinforced, and now this."

            The look exchanged between Roll and Dr. Light did not go unnoticed.

            "All right. What did you guys have to do in order to keep me going?" I asked, giving the roboticist and his creations a serious look. "It'll probably be better if you spit it out before I figure it out myself."

            Dr. Light opened his mouth and was about to answer when an explosion resounded from somewhere in the building.

            _::Hey, Doc! We've got a bit of a situation over here - Woody and ol' Swordy somehow managed to find the entrance!::_

            I frowned in confusion and stiffened upon hearing Bass' voice echo in my left ear, sending Dr. Light a curious look, raising an eyebrow.

            The roboticist gave Blues a look.

            "Everyone else was sent out on patrol," the prototype stated. "I'll head over there to help Bass out."

            "Let me help!" My statement caught his attention. "I don't want to get rusty and leave my powers to collect dust. Two weeks isn't a time that I'll be able to sleep off so quickly."

            Blues seemed to see the conviction in my statement, and he nodded. "Follow me." He turned and took off down a hall behind him. I dashed after him, surprised I was even capable of keeping up with him - it goes without saying that a robot would have augmented abilities, compared to a human's. And, besides, I was never really the most athletic. Did the doc do something to my legs, too? Is that why they buckled one minute and could handle my weight the next?

            "We're coming up on the entrance," Blues stated, pulling me out of my thoughts as he glanced back. "Are you prepared?"

            "I'm ready," I replied, surprised that my voice came to me easily - without the general noises of exhaustion I would get from exerting myself. "Just let me at Woody. My fire'll be able to handle him."

            "No." I looked at Blues in surprise. "You can take care of SwordMan. Bass and I will handle WoodMan."

            I raised an eyebrow at this, then nodded. "All right, then. SwordMan it is."

            The two of us soon arrived at the entrance, which looked like it had been a garage door before it had been blown open - I could tell it had been hacked open because there were a few burn marks left behind, as well as a few extra slash marks besides. I doubted that the two invading Robot Masters - who were presently being held back by Bass' crazily fired Buster Shots - had the power to create the explosion. Wily had probably given them a bomb to use.

            "About time you got here!" Bass shouted back at the two. "I'm starting to run low on energy here."

            I looked over at the intruders. WoodMan, as I had expected, looked like a log that had the robotic form carved into it. SwordMan, on the other hand, looked like he had been built around a gyroscope or something - his upper half was connected to his lower half only by way of a small sphere, surprising me with the simple fact that he could actually stand straight up, what with the giant sword he had instead of a right arm. Something about his colors (the 'bot was mostly red), his chest, and the fact that he even had a sword made me wonder whether or not the guy was a prototype for one of the later models in the other games...

            I shook the thoughts out of my head and summoned my staff, barely registering that the circuits had overtaken more of it than they had the day before. "Gyro-waist is mine," I muttered.

            "Gyro-waist?!" SwordMan gave me a look of shock. "How dare you!" He charged, his blade becoming coated in fire.

            Okay. That was an unexpected development...but also a delightful one. Grinning, I stopped his blade short with the staff, then watched as the fire moved along the staff and onto my arms.

            "Maria!" Blues exclaimed in alarm, dodging an attack from WoodMan. Tree trunks, as I had expected.

            I let out a laugh. "Don't worry about me, Blues! I'm fine!" A malicious grin appeared on my face. "In fact, I'm more than fine."

            The fire made its way up my arms, licking greedily as I absorbed them - an after-effect of me getting turned into a Vulpix at the hands of a space-time warp. The absorbed flames turned into an energy boost, which I promptly sent directly back through the staff, planning on releasing it as an electrical attack to set SwordMan's systems off balance.

            To my shock, the staff only sparked weakly...then disappeared in a shower of sparks, forcing me to move quickly as the sword came flying at me.

            I let out a growl. "Great. This is not a good time for me to lose access to that." I continued to move back, watching the sword's movements while I tried desperately to bring back my staff. "Come on, come on!" My right fist - the hand that the staff appears in - clenched as I sent a great amount of energy into it...

            **3rd POV**

            Maria's entire right forearm started to glow with a bright light, the rest of her form from the neck down brightening a second later. The fighting stopped short as both sides turned to see what was happening to Maria.

            When the light faded, Maria was looking over her form with shock and surprise. "Whoa. That's...unexpected."

            Maria's clothes had disappeared, now replaced with red, orange, and gray armor. Her shoes had been replaced with bright red boots with a more futuristic look than Blues', and she had red armor covering her abdomen, forearms, and her shoulder joints in the form of rectangular guards. The gray armor covered her legs, upper arms, lower back, and stomach area, while orange armor covered her chest and upper back. White rings surrounded her elbow joints and wrists, as well as covered her left hand in a glove, while her right hand had completely disappeared...replaced by a Buster.

            SwordMan let out a growl. "A mere light show isn't going to stop me, girl." He charged forward, causing Maria to lift her cannon arm reflexively...resulting in a large blast of electric energy that sent the Robot Master flying into a wall, his lower half almost disconnecting from his upper half.

            "You call that a light show?" Maria shot back. She looked over her right arm and glared at it. As if in response, the cannon glowed, morphing into a regular limb identical in color scheme to her left. "Well, that settles it, then." Maria turned her gaze from her arm to SwordMan - who looked soundly knocked out - to WoodMan, who was busy dodging Buster Shots from Bass, while Blues still gave Maria a surprised look. Raising her right arm, a fireball appeared in her palm, and she threw it at the tree-trunk shaped Robot Master. It instantly caused WoodMan to burst into flames.

            "Bullseye!" Maria exclaimed, doing a fist pump with her left hand.

            "Nice one, kid!" Bass stated, giving Maria a thumbs up with his left. Turning to look at the two Robot Masters, he stated, "All right. Now to see about getting the self destruct deactivated from these two." He marched over to WoodMan as the flames died down, while Blues moved over to SwordMan. Both 'bots reached around to the back of the two Robot Masters, resulting in an audible click.

            "There. That should do it," Blues stated.

            "Good. Because I'd like a few answers," Maria stated, motioning to her now armored form.

            "First, we gotta seal this opening before Wily gets anymore ideas," Bass noted, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the giant hole. "Ya mind giving me a hand?"

            "Not at all."

            **Line Break**

            Maria gave her armor another look using the mirror Dr. Light had provided, experimentally messing around with her right arm and the new Buster feature. "So, you had to put me in this in order to keep me alive?"

            "I'm afraid that isn't the complete explanation," Dr. Light responded from where he stood behind her. "When Rock brought you back two weeks ago, your body was already starting to disintegrate. That White Flare attack you released seemed to have inadvertently activated some sort of self-destruct sequence embedded in your DNA."

            Maria frowned, a worried and surprised look passing over her face. "Self-destruct sequence?" she murmured. "How is that even possible?"

            "I don't know. It could have been because of all the energy you were forced to expel in order to take down MetalMan. Anyway, in order to keep you alive, I...managed to transfer your memories into a robot prototype I had been working on. The crystalline shard you had been carrying with you at the time was my best bet to use as a power source."

            "So it wasn't destroyed!" Maria looked down at her chest. "You just needed an excuse as to where it went."

            Dr. Light nodded, a curious frown appearing on his face. "However, I wasn't expecting to see a Buster appear..."

            "I think my staff was somehow...transformed into it or something." Maria inspected her right arm more closely. "I mean, it was covered in that green circuit-stuff right before it disappeared." She looked back at the bearded roboticist. "So, what now? I mean, I'm going to have to adjust to all this..."

            "I'd say you already have." Maria looked over as Blues walked up from a corridor behind her. "When I was first learning how to use the Proto Buster, my shots went all over the place. You managed to hit SwordMan directly - and with a charged shot, no less."

            "Messing around with my other abilities improved my aim," Maria responded with a shrug. She let out a sigh and smirked. "And watching my brothers mess around with the games made me think even more so - especially when I did take the occasion to mess around with it myself." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Doc, you said this was a prototype, right? A prototype for what?"

            "For a new kind of robot," Dr. Light replied.

            "Always working on something new," Blues muttered.

            "These robots are going to be truly new, however - completely free of any sort of constraint, capable of thinking and feeling for themselves - capable of more human-like things than you or Rock are, Blues."

            Maria raised an eyebrow at this. "Capable of worry, as well?"

            "Yes, if at all possible." Dr. Light's eyes shone with an eagerness as he continued to speak about his project. "They will be able to learn from experience - an act which I had to program into my Robot Masters as an upgrade. They will be as human as...well, as you were."

            Maria took Dr. Light's statement into consideration and nodded. "So, you're planning on making androids who can replicate human behavior. Quite the ambition."

            Blues gave Maria a look, his visor furrowing slightly as if to replicate a frown.

            Dr. Light nodded. "Indeed. I have yet to come up with a proper title for them, however." He looked over at Blues. "How is SwordMan adjusting?"

            "He and Fire are getting along decently," Blues responded. "He seems to think that Maria is a new Robot Master."

            Maria giggled. "Well, I could be, but I didn't originally live around here." Her nose scrunched up as a frown passed over her face. "It's a shame that Woody had to have an internal bomb that fried his circuits. We probably could have used his help, too."

            "We can use all the help we can get," Dr. Light agreed. "And your help will be most appreciated."

            "I'll be staying for as long as I can - or as long as I am needed. Whichever works." Maria shrugged.

            "Maybe you can see about teaching Fire a couple of your techniques," Blues remarked. "Using both of his cannons to unleash just one attack can get to be rather taxing on our energy reserves."

            "I can imagine," Maria agreed, chuckling. "Where do you think he's hanging out right about now?"

            "Our training area, I imagine." Blues motioned for Maria to follow him down one of the adjoining corridors, then started to walk down it, Maria following not too far behind.

            Dr. Light watched them go, a slightly curious look on his face. "Hmmm...an android which can replicate human nature..."

            **Spacial Break.**

            "RAAAAAGH!" _SMASH!_

            The sound of machinery being destroyed echoed throughout the darkened building as an angered figure rampaged through his lab.

            "Stupid Dr. Light!" the figure shouted, shaking his fists at a picture of the mentioned roboticist. It had been drawn on with red marker, giving the doctor a goofy face, and was filled with holes while a couple darts punctured the man's stomach and nose. "Why do you have to be the one to get all the new toys, huh?!"

            "Rampaging won't get us anywhere, Dr. Wily," a figure in the shadows noted. "The video feed we have from WoodMan hardly caught a glimpse of this new figure. I have reason to believe that it may be the same robot who destroyed MetalMan."

            "Be quiet, you," Dr. Wily snarled, turning to face the figure. His crazy hairdo looked even more crazy in the dim lighting. "Don't you think I've come to the same conclusion already?! It's bad enough that we weren't able to salvage anything from MetalMan." He turned to face one of the few still-standing machines - a large supercomputer. "I need to go over that footage again - maybe I can figure out her weakness..."

            "She threw a fireball, Dr. Wily. She could be weak to ice or water-"

            "Don't you think I know that?!" Wily turned and glared at the figure behind him. "The only reason I tolerate your presence in here, Enker, is that I can actually have an intelligent conversation with you!"

            The figure in the shadows - now with an actual name - shook his head silently at his creator's rampaging. "Well, it's obvious that she's new, at any rate. What are you going to have us do about her?"

            Wily frowned as he looked at the screen in front of him, absently stroking his mustache with one hand. A spark of an unidentified emotion appeared in his eyes, and he started to type furiously, all thought of the MegaMan Killer's presence disappearing.

            Enker, knowing that he was being ignored, let out an annoyed sigh and tried to get his creator's attention. "Doc! What do you want us to do?"

            "Hmmm?" Wily sent a glance over his shoulder, then turned back to the computer screen. "Just go and destroy a building or something - keep Dr. Light occupied. And try to get some actual footage of that new Robot Master!"


	6. Weather Destruction, part 1

            Maria ducked behind a piece of broken road as a beam of electricity shot over her head, only for another one to be sent back, destroying the strange cannon-like object with an overload.

            Glancing back, Maria gave the figure behind her a thumbs-up. "Thanks, Elec."

            "Don't thank me yet," was the Robot Master's curt reply. "Dr. Wily's little Met-drones are going to be on us soon enough. We can never seem to be able to go anywhere without getting noticed by them." He walked forward to stand next to the kneeling girl, looking out over the broken street in front of them, eyes carefully going over the sections that looked like they were about to collapse before stopping at their targeted destination: a large, factory-like building that was adding smoke to the already darkened sky. "Remember, we have to get rid of that thing before we can gain any sort of edge in this war."

            Maria nodded, then stood up, looking over the damaged landscape herself. "Yeah. Why he'd make any sort of weather machine that big, though, I have no clue." She took a couple steps forward, getting past the section of road she had been hiding behind a moment before. "Do you have any idea?"

            "To keep whatever advantage concerning the weather out of either of our hands." Elec started to walk forward, leading Maria along the pocketed road towards the building. "He knows what I am capable of in a thunderstorm - and Ice right in the middle of blizzards, or Fire during a drought. By keeping up this little climate-controlled situations he keeps us from gaining the advantage - but also keeps the advantage out of his hands."

            "I guess that's one way of leveling the playing field," Maria noted dryly. She skirted a wrecked car, giving it a sad look. "How long has this been going on, again? A couple months?"

            "Three." ElecMan paused, then pointed at an alley ahead of them. "Look there."

            Maria's gaze went over to where the Robot Master was pointing, catching sight of what appeared to be a hard hat with a green line dotted with black plus symbols. She frowned upon catching sight of it.

            "Umm...one of those Mett-things, right?" She looked to Elec for confirmation, and he nodded. "The more basic minions in his army?"

            "That helmet is usually worm by most of them, but yes." Elec's hands started to spark with electricity. "The trick with them is to get them to stand up, then attack from below or when they're off guard."

            Maria nodded. "All right." Fire started to lick at her fingers as she allowed power to leak out. "How do you get them to jump up so you can hit them?"

            "Metts usually aren't too smart. I can usually get them up by walking up to them." Elec gave Maria a warning look. "They usually carry pick-axes, so I would be careful about getting too close."

            "How much damage can those things do?" Maria started to inch forward, watching the helmet warily. "I mean, it looks so...little."

            As if she had spoken the magic words, the helmet suddenly sprang up into a black figure that towered over the two by a good ten feet, at least. It had a large axe leaning on one shoulder in a relaxed sort of way, but what really unnerved Maria was the pair of red eyes that glared at her and Elec.

            "Red eyes are bad news," Maria muttered, backing up a little while she glared up at the figure. "Will our attacks do any damage to that thing?"

            "Our elemental attacks won't," Elec responded. His hands had long since stopped sparking, and a Buster cannon formed in his right arm. Maria was quick to follow his move, bringing out her own Buster and training it on the Mett.

            Maria's eyes narrowed as her more mechanical systems showed her where the Mett's joints were - the best possible weak spots for a robot of any kind, if they didn't happen to have any sort of extra padding like the rings she wore on her wrists and elbows.

            "Okay," Maria muttered to herself. Taking aim quickly, she started to send energy through her right arm, turning it into small red energy pellets that hit the Mett's left side, while Elec went for its right, their fire mostly centered on or around the robot's joints.

            The Mett, however, did not seem to be too damaged by the attack. It simply unshouldered the axe it carried and dashed forward, using the shaft to block some of the attacks before bringing it up in preparation for a swing.

            Maria saw it coming, eyes widening as it started to lift the weapon up. "Move, move, move!" She dashed to her left while Elec ran in the opposite direction, the axe coming down and making a small crevice in the already destroyed road. "Sheesh, that thing packs a punch! Wish I had my staff to counteract it..."

            "That would have been cut in half!" Elec retorted. He took note that the Mett was struggling to remove the axe from the road. "Now's our chance! Try to find a weak spot while its trying to get loose!"

            "Right!" Maria started to charge up her Buster, eyes scanning for a spot in the robot's armor that could be a weak point. She quickly caught sight of what appeared to be a small tear in the black armor that covered its left elbow. "That'd be as good a spot as any," she muttered. Her cannon started to spark with all the energy it was being forced to contain in such a tight space, and Maria decided now was a good time to let loose.

            The Charged Shot flew towards its intended target and succeeded in hitting the vulnerable area, causing the Mett to suddenly stiffen up as electricity coursed through it.

            "Yes!" Maria grinned.

            "Good work," Elec stated with a nod. "See if you can keep it up." His shots started to pocket the armor, searching for another weak spot while the Mett started to move again.

            There was a sound metal sliding against rock as the Mett finally managed to get its axe free of the road. It stumbled backwards a little from the force of the axe suddenly popping out of the ground, but quickly regained its balance and prepared to attack them again, adjusting its grip on the axe's shaft.

            "How many more hits do you think that thing is going to take?" Maria asked, not taking her gaze off the Mett.

            "Not too many. Your Charged Shots are about as strong as Rock's, and it doesn't take him too long to take these things out." Elec watched as the Mett pointed the top of the axe at them, then started to move around quickly, avoiding the energy blasts that the Mett started to fire at him.

            Maria's eyes narrowed upon catching sight of the Robot Master's predicament. Quickly, she dashed forward, her left hand forming a Fire Sphere. "Take this, you hard-headed Heartless!" Maria let out a grunt as she threw the Fire Sphere, adding to it some extra force in the hope of doing some extra damage, gaining a strange look from the Robot Master near her.

            The elemental attack flew towards its intended target at high speed. Maria grinned as the weaponized end of the axe exploded, rendering it pretty much useless.

            "There we go!" Maria exclaimed, grinning. This got the Mett's attention, and it turned its red gaze towards her, causing Maria's determination to falter a little. "Oh, boy."

            "Get moving!" Elec barked, running for the Mett. "It's not going to stop just because you got rid of its Axe-Blaster!"

            Maria gave a nervous nod, then jumped to the left as the axe came down, getting it stuck in the pavement again. "How smart are these things again?"

            "They're his grunts!" Elec called back. He jumped up onto the shaft of the axe and pointed at more tears in the black armor. "See those tears? Aim for them with another Charged Shot, and that should take him out."

            "Right." Maria sent a large wave of energy into her Buster, then took aim at the Mett's left hand. "Here goes!"

            The Charged Shot, which was slightly smaller than the one Maria had released earlier, was quick to make contact with the exposed circuitry, causing more sparks to fly from the Mett. Elec was quick to absorb the released electricity, then send it back in the form of his own Charged Shot, causing small explosions to start to detonate all over the Mett. Maria and Elec were quick to move away from the sparking robot as it fell to the right, leaving the axe stuck in the ground.

            The feeling of adrenaline that had been running through Maria started to fade away slowly, causing the teen to realize that she had used a large amount of energy in order to help take down the robot. "Man, I really need to keep an eye on my energy levels a little more closely," she noted as she got rid of her Buster.

            "Just don't use a Charged Shot for another hour or two," Elec stated. "Your energy levels should go back up without too much hinderance." Upon seeing the look of surprise on Maria's face, the Robot Master explained, "Because I was designed to assist in a power plant, I can sense the power levels of my fellow Robot Masters - and, by extent, you."

            "Huh. That's pretty useful," Maria noted. "I never knew you could do that." She looked ahead and started forward, walking over the Mett carefully in order to keep moving towards their original target.

            "Dr. Light added it recently, so that I could keep track of the others' power levels and make sure that they didn't fall in battle." Elec started to head over the Mett himself, managing to jump over the limp limbs with ease.

            "So...you're some sort of medical 'bot, then?" Maria stood patiently, glancing back as Elec jumped off the collapsed robot form.

            "Of a sort." Elec started jogging ahead, Maria following not too far behind. "I don't carry any mechanical repair supplies, however."

            "Makes sense. You weren't originally built for that sort of thing." Maria jumped over a large crack in the road, her eyes scanning for any more enemies they might end up coming across. "Can you do that sensing thing to pick up enemy signatures? See if there are any more of those 'Mega-Metts' nearby?"

            "I haven't tried."

            "Then do so. We might be able to get the jump on those who would want to jump us."

            Elec gave Maria a look of surprise, then smirked. "I like the way you think, kid. That could work." He stopped at a crossroads, holding his left arm out in front of Maria, causing the teen to stop short. The Robot Master then closed his eyes in a concentrating manner, dropping his arm and getting into what appeared to be a defensive stance.

            Maria watched Elec curiously for a moment, then started to look around herself, trying to see if there might have been anything that she herself could have spotted in the shadows or otherwise. It could have been paranoia kicking in, but to her, it looked like all the shadows were moving.

            The teen considered the thought that her optics were getting less energy than they were supposed to, or that she was lower on energy than was recommended of a robot.

            "I've found something," Elec stated, catching Maria's attention. He pointed to a trashed road that entered the crossroads from their right. "There's a couple energy signatures coming from over there, but I can't determine what they are specifically." He looked ahead of them. "And it doesn't look like we can continue on this route."

            Maria nodded, taking note of the strange drop that the road made not too long after it had gotten past the crossroads. "If one of us could fly or do some sort of super-jump, we could get across."

            "Super-jump?" Elec gave Maria a curious look, a slight frown creasing the strange mask he wore.

            "I'm just thinking about video game stuff," Maria replied carelessly. "Nothing you should probably be worried about." She looked at the other two available routes. "So, which way should we go? I don't exactly want to run into any more of those 'Mega-Metts,' but if they've been put up on that road over there..."

            "...they're probably guarding something," Elec finished, nodding. "Most likely a detour to the weather machine." He started over towards the road to their right. "You might be onto something, Maria."

            "There have been instances like that all over the multiverse," Maria responded, following Elec. She jumped over a protruding piece of pavement and jogged over to the Robot Master's side. "I've learned to spot things like that because of it."

            Elec's eyes sparked with interest. "That certainly explains your calm demeanor concerning your situation," he noted.

            "You mean that I'm here or that I'm in a prototype robot body?"

            "The second one."

            "Ah." A smirk appeared on Maria's face. "I had my suspicions, but none of them were really confirmed until my staff decided to change its form." She lifted her Buster. "Heroes are always getting upgrades of some form or fashion, and I figured that this was my version of one." She looked around, taking note that the road was deserted. "I don't see any possible enemies here..."

            "They're here," Elec confirmed. "I can see their signals clear as day."

            "Sure wish we could have some. Daylight, I mean." Maria looked up at the clouded sky, searching for a break in the artificially-created clouds. "I know I've only been here a week, but if those clouds don't clear up soon I'm going to expect either a downpour or a snowstorm. Clouded skies make me antsy."

            "That's probably because of your firepower," Elec noted.

            "Could be. But even before I started this whole traveling thing, before I discovered my abilities, I haven't liked it when I can't see the sun." Maria returned her gaze to the road ahead of them, looking about for the sources of the energy signals.

            It didn't take long for the "sources" to appear - there were Mett helmets that started to appear in the shadows, tilted back a little, allowing for what was underneath them to peer out in order to see if anyone threatening was passing by. Maria and Elec stopped in front of one, watching the helmet cautiously.

            "Why aren't they moving?" Maria asked quietly, her eyes darting around in case one of the Metts they weren't standing in front of decided to jump up and attack.

            "I don't know," Elec replied. "Their signals are lighting up with full power levels, but it doesn't appear like they want to attack."

            Maria crouched down, giving the helmet they were in front of a suspicious look. A pair of bright green eyes stared back at her blankly. "Well, this one's definitely active." She frowned. "Elec, if red eyes means an enemy, what do green eyes mean?"

            Elec's eyes widened, and he grabbed Maria from behind and yanked her back just as the entire helmet shook, then turned red before exploding.

            "Bombs," Elec stated grimly, dropping his hands from her shoulders. "They won't attack, but stray too close and they'll be set off."

            Maria nodded. "Right. Thanks." She continued to walk forward, watching the Mett-bombs in case they decided to suddenly go off without her notice - thereby earning who knows how much damage. "What is there that these Metts aren't programmed to do?" she muttered.

            "I think the person you should be asking that question is Dr. Light," Elec replied.

            The two continued on in silence, watching out for anything that could jump out and attack at a moment's notice. Maria was secretly relieved that there weren't any more "Mega-Metts" to be seen, but she was worried at the same time: if Dr. Wily had sent that kind of robot out, it was obvious that he was expecting trouble from his nemesis - or, at least, the Robot Masters.

            "How long ago did Wily start making those Mega-Mett things, anyway?" Maria asked as they reached another crossroads - thankfully, there weren't any robots blocking the path, and the roads themselves seemed to be in a relatively good condition.

            "He only started to mass-produce them when he started his last take-over plan," Elec explained. "Dr. Light suspected that he had started to create them during the Eighth War, when he was experimenting with that 'evil energy' stuff." The Robot Master headed off to their left, shrugging. "It seems likely that he was planning on powering them with it, but has since found an alternate energy source."

            "Evil energy, huh?" Maria frowned. "That sounds familiar..."

            "Have you heard of a robot named Duo?" Elec sent a curious glance back.

            Maria's eyes widened. "Yeah! Isn't he the guy that lives up in space?"

            "That's him. Dr. Light sent him a message before you got here, asking for his assistance. We have yet to hear back from him."

            Maria glared at the weather machine factory, which was now back to being squarely ahead of them. "I should think that it would take him some time to get here. Who knows how far away he is from our planet?" Something suddenly bounced into the furthest corner of her vision, and she stopped short, catching sight of a small Mett - which appeared to be nothing more than a head with legs - carrying a pickax. "Hey, it's one of the regular Metts." She looked back at Elec. "Just one shot will take care of him, right?"

            "Use any attack you want," Elec confirmed with a nod.

            Maria smirked, a fireball appearing in her left hand. "Good. I was hoping I wouldn't end up getting completely rusty with this!" She fired the Fire Sphere at the Mett, watching as the little robot exploded in a shower of sparks and melted metal. "We should probably keep moving. I don't think that Wily's going to keep that factory completely undefended, and that Mega-Mett's destruction probably won't go unnoticed."

            Elec nodded, then started to run ahead, Maria not too far behind him.

**Line Break.**

            After running into more Metts of variated shapes and sizes (including one more Mega-Mett), Maria came to the decision that Wily was indeed aware of their presence. The Metts were becoming more ferocious the further the two went, and more numerous, as well. The ex-human was surprised that they hadn't run into any of Wily's Robot Masters yet - but she had considered the idea that at least one of them waited for them inside the building she and Elec were gunning for. Who, was the question.

            Maria and Elec reached another crossroads, looking around quickly for any possible roadblocks - or other Metts.

            Maria glanced behind her at the large, boulder-like Mett that was still rolling towards them, even though it was a good distance away. "Which way?" she asked, slightly panicked.

            "This way!" Elec pointed to their left, then grabbed Maria's right arm and dashed down the street. "Those things can't turn too well!"

            "Then why did Wily even make those things?" Maria asked, daring to glance back as the rolling Mett crashed into an already ruined building. "They don't look like they'd be much use in anything."

            "Most likely for easy demolition," Elec noted. "If there wasn't any sort of wreckage nearby, they wouldn't stop for anything."

            "What do you mean?"

            "Despite being designed for demolition, if the material they come across is already ragged, it will tear them open and work away at their insides."

            Maria looked at the Robot Master in surprise. "Their armor is that weak?"

            "Only to certain materials. If we were to hit them, we wouldn't make a dent."

            "As I have already seen."

            The two started to slow down, the danger that had been chasing them long since past, both breathing heavily in order to bring in cool air to take away the heat that had built up in their systems.

            "At what level of insanity is Wily at if he'd actually design robots to just aimlessly roll around like that?" Maria asked, darling to glance back at the Mett - which now had a large piece of wrecked building embedded in it.

            "I'm not even sure that there is a number of 'levels' for insanity," Elec responded.

            "Sure there is - all humans a at little 'insane' at some point in their lives. The more one acts like that more often, the more insane they are," Maria explained. "At least, that's how I view things."

            "Ah. I believe Wily is insane enough that your suggested 'levels' don't even begin to cover it."

            Maria let out a sigh. "I probably should have expected that..." She looked around. "Are we any closer to the weather machine thingy?"

            "We're getting close, all right," Elec replied. "The next right turn should get us close to the main entrance."

            The two of them reached the crossroads with little difficulty, whatever Metts that were there being either bombs or the relatively normal ones that were easy to pick off. The weather machine had been lost from sight for the past few minutes, blocked from view by the devastated buildings in the area. As they turned to the right upon reaching the crossroads, Maria found out why.

            "When you said close, I didn't think you'd meant this close," Maria noted, glancing at Elec. In front of them was a large, wrought-iron gate, behind which was the building Maria and Elec had been aiming for. "Any idea as to how to get in?"

            Elec nodded. "According to what Shadow said, there should be a break in the fence somewhere near here." He walked over to the fence and started to walk along it, looking for an area that they could slip through unnoticed.

            "I could just melt a section of the metal so that we could slip by," Maria suggested, following the Robot Master. "Then we wouldn't have to worry about finding this hole."

            "You need to save your energy," was Elec's curt response. "There are going to be a lot of robots in there, and who knows how much energy it's going to take to defeat them." He continued to scan the fence, then pointed to a spot not too far away from them. "There it is." The Robot Master walked over to it, Maria following behind.

            "That's not big enough to fit either of us," Maria noted, looking down at the small hole. "A leg, sure, but not everything else."

            "Then we make it bigger." Elec's hands sparked, and he grabbed the outer edges of the hole and pried it back, grunting as electricity ran through the fence as the hole became gradually larger. "A little help, Maria?"

            "Oh! Yeah, sure." Maria's hands became covered in flames, and she grabbed at the more sharp edges of the hole, melting them to rounded stubs as she slowly guided the metal to melt into some sort of reasonably large gateway, what she had managed to melt puddling on the pavement at the outer edges of the hole. "That should be a little more safe to get through."

            Elec moved the metal back even further for a moment more, then released his hold on it, panting. "There." He looked at his handiwork - a hole in the fencing that was about half as tall as Maria and him - and then at Maria. "How's that for a hole?"

            Maria gave Elec a grin and nodded. "Looks good. Now let's get in there and mess that thing up from the inside." She started forward, but Elec grabbed her by the shoulder, stopping her short of the hole.

            "Wait." He held his left hand to his corresponding ear. "This is ElecMan. We've reached the weather machine and are preparing to invade. Do we have a go-ahead?"

            There was static on the other end for a moment, then Blues' voice came through loud and clear, causing Maria to flinch a little - she still wasn't quite used to the internal communications systems that Dr. Light had set up. : _:This is ProtoMan. I'm already inside and waiting for you two to get in here. Meet me by the power generators in the center of the building. There's a lot of guards wandering around, and they're all based off the Robot Master in charge of this place: AirMan. A straight-on attack isn't going to work vy well with these; going from behind or sneaking up next to them is your best approach. A frontal assault is a last resort::_

            "So, no destroying anything, then?" Maria asked, disappointment sneaking into her voice.

            _::You can destroy enough to get AirMan's attention, but don't destroy anything unless it looks important. Unless you want to get the attention of every single robot in the building, your primary order is to remain as much in the shadows as possible. Maria, I know this may be hard, considering how you have acted in our training runs for the past few days, but you must remain hidden from the security cameras Dr. Wily has placed around the building. It's likely he already knows about your existence, but we don't want him to get any ideas as to getting rid of you...or worse::_ The way the prototype said it made Maria shudder; all sorts of implied - but unspoken - things popping into her head. _::If you see any cameras, destroy them before fully revealing yourself::_

"Got it," Maria stated. "Destroy cameras and act like a ninja. I can do that for a little while, at least."

            _::Good to hear. ProtoMan out::_ The connection was promptly severed.

            Elec turned to look at Maria, who was bouncing eagerly on her feet, an excited grin on her face. "You're about as excitable as Roll, you know that?"

            Maria shrugged, stopping her bouncing. "I'm aware of things like that." The grin on her face became wider. "But you haven't really seen me in action yet!" She walked through the fence (bending forward a little so as to not bump into the top of the hole) and instantly started to look around for anything that might prove to be a threat.

            Elec walked up beside her. "The first thing you should really be looking for are the security cameras," he stated. He pointed to a corner of the building - which was actually rather close - and sent off a bolt of electricity, which promptly took out of the mentioned devices. "There are probably a few others in the area, as well, not to mention the guards that ProtoMan mentioned."

            "I don't see why he has to go around with that name when we're on missions..." Maria muttered.

            "I don't know what your world knows about this one, but Wily doesn't know that Blues and ProtoMan are the same robot," Elec muttered, surprising Maria. "He thinks that Blues is just another lab assistant."

            "I wasn't expecting that..." Maria shook away the questions that suddenly tumbled into her mind. "Right. Cameras." The teen started to look around, scanning the "courtyard" (if you'd call it that) of the giant weather machine building. Spotting a camera on top of the fence, and seeing that it was slowly swinging its lens over towards them, Maria summoned a Fire Sphere and melted the device. "One down, who knows how many to go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inventing "levels" isn't a problem for me, apparently. Also, the Mega-Mets, as Maria called them, is something I came up with off the top of my head. I don't know if they exist in other places.


	7. Weather Destruction part 2 -- vs. AirMan

            Maria gritted her teeth in frustration as she punched away a small fan-like robot with a fire-covered fist. "Do these guys ever stop coming?"

            "Only if you find the machine that's mass producing them!" Elec called back, dodging an attacking fan-bot and then zapping it. "And those are extremely hard to find."

            "Well, isn't that just great!" Maria declared, irritated. She caught sight of a security camera turning her way and sent a Fire Sphere at it, effectively melting the mechanical construct, sending melted metal sliding down one wall of the corridor. "It's bad enough that I have to keep an eye out for those cameras - fighting these little freaks isn't exactly helping!" With a growl, she sent out a wave of fiery energy from her waist, effectively taking out a small crowd of robots surrounding her.

            "Is it truly that easy to excite your temper?" Elec asked, frowning.

            "Only when something really gets on my nerves!" was Maria's response.

            The two stopped at a corner, where the corridor they were in merged with another at a ninety-degree was quick to spot and destroy multiple cameras before the fan-bots started to come in from holes that opened up in the blank white ceiling and equally white walls.

            "If I could sneak past the cameras without having to destroy them, we probably wouldn't have to deal with those things," Maria noted grimly as she stepped into the hall. She started to throw fireballs everywhere there was a fan-bot, a determined look on her face. Elec soon joined her.

            "How do you expect to manage that?" Elec asked, giving Maria a curious look. "Dr. Light didn't equip you with any sort of cloaking device, as far as I know."

            "Others who have invaded different facilities have gone without cloaking devices - and managed to sneak by cameras without any problem whatsoever." Maria covered her right arm in fire and made a slicing motion by swinging it around in front of her, sending a wave fire at the robots in front of them, clearing their path forward at least a little. "You don't need to be a ninja in order to sneak around properly, although it does help to be one in some cases." She let out a grunt as one of the fan-bots tried to gnaw away at her armor, only to turn up the head and blunt the blades before yanking it off.

            "It would, especially considering you do not have the footwear you had been wearing before. The rubbery covering on the bottom would have been of great assistance."

            "Eh." Maria shrugged, then stepped on a fan-bot who was struggling to get up, its legs melted off. "I don't think there was much Dr. Light could have done. I was surprised to find that they got melted - that didn't happen when I used White Flare those other times."

            "Your body probably overloaded," Elec suggested. He looked around the hall - and the wreckage - for a moment before getting out of his battle stance. "We should keep moving. No need to keep ProtoMan waiting."

            "Right," Maria agreed. She started to walk forward again, moving to walk along one wall, watching for any cameras with a slightly tense air. Elec noticed the change instantly.

            "Why are you walking over there?" he asked, frowning.

            "It's one of the things that people do when they want to avoid cameras. You just have to time it right, and you can zigzag from a position underneath one camera to another one." Maria sent a quick glance back at the Robot Master, then returned her gaze to the ceiling. "It sounds simple, but if you don't time it right, you could get caught easily."

            "I recommend that you don't attempt it until you can manage to practice this technique," Elec stated. "Preferably in a place where you won't be offlined."

            "Sometimes the best way to learn is on the run." Maria came to a stop in front of a right turn in the corridor, peering around it carefully before pulling her head back and giving Elec a surprised look. "And I think I'm going to have to start working on it now."

            Elec frowned, then walked forward and looked around the corner himself. The next section of corridor had cameras, as was to be expected...only these were armed with what appeared to be explosives. "Why would Dr. Wily place explosives on security cameras?"

            "Something tells me he's really losing it..." Maria muttered. Experimentally, she summoned a Fire Sphere and threw it at one of the cameras (which were, luckily, not facing their direction), then moved behind the corner again in order to avoid any sort of resulting explosion.

            The entire hall was instantly filled with smoke and debris from the walls as the security cameras set off a chain reaction, exploding all the way down the corridor and sending tremors through the floor. Maria ended up gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut as she covered her ears because it was so loud.

            When the tremors had finally stopped, Maria and Elec peered around the corner again, taking note that sections of the ceiling and walls had fallen in, and that there were twisted forms of fan-bots who had been too close to the blasts - wherever they were hiding beforehand, at least.

            "Glad I wasn't standing any closer," Maria noted, eyes wide from what had just occurred. "Elec, why do you think he'd even do that? What's the point of putting explosives on cameras?"

            Elec frowned, his left hand moving to his chin as he frowned. "In all likelihood, it seems that they're set off if a heat signature they recognize as hostile gets too close. Which means that we'll have to tread carefully from this point on - there could be mines in the floors, or the camera bombs are just that powerful."

            Maria let out a whistle. "Sheesh, this guy could give Vinny a run for his money."

            "Who?"

            Maria waved the comment off. "Just an old friend on another world. Nothing you need to be too concerned about."

            Elec gave her a curious look, but didn't press. Instead, he started to walk forward into the wreckage, keeping an eye for anything that might trigger another explosion. Maria followed close behind, warily looking about in case they were attacked from one of the openings in the walls - she could see machinery of all sorts through them, wires sending off sparks as a strange, green liquid spilled out through gashes in large pipes.

            "Man..." Maria shook her head, then her eyes widened as she came to a stop. "Say, Elec - think we could use these holes as shortcuts to where Blu - I mean, ProtoMan is?"

            Elec gave the holes in the walls a curious look, taking note of all the machinery that lay beyond as he came to a stop, as well. A frown crossed his face. "I doubt it. Those machines are generators, but they create the semi-sentient robots we've been fighting. There's no way that we would be able to use them as passages to reach the power generators in the center of the building."

            Maria frowned. "But they've got to have some sort of connection to them, right?"

            "Are you suggesting we use up precious energy blasting through walls in order to reach the center of the complex?" Elec gave Maria a curious - and surprised - look.

            "Not completely. If we can manage to get a couple more of those camera bomb things, we might be able to find a shortcut," Maria suggested. "It's better than running around and going through this maze at the rate we're going."

            Elec frowned, then looked around at the wreckage again. He could sense that a couple fan-bots were still flailing around a little, but not enough to deem them as dangerous to either him or Maria. While the holes the camera bombs created provide a little insight as to the inner workings of the building - which was as much a factory as it was a weather machine - the ones here did not provide any sort of secret passageway, like what the human-turned-robot was suggesting. "It is possible that other corridors could be connected in this manner," Elec admitted. "I wouldn't bet on it, though. Wily may be many things, but he's not stupid."

            "I never said he was," Maria responded. She started to move forward again, climbing over a small pile of ceiling tiles, glancing up as she did. "It's just that there can be flaws in every single architectural marvel - and Wily's created buildings are no exception." She cocked her head for a moment, looking up at the hole in the ceiling, then shrugged and hopped off the pile on the other side, motioning for Elec to follow. "Besides, he's got to have a faster way of getting from place to place inside the building. These passageways seem to be more for moving mass numbers of his army or something."

            "What makes you say that?" Elec clambered over the pile of ceiling tiles himself, watching Maria's strangely calm movements as she continued forward.

            "Almost every single villain that I'm aware of has a secret passage system built into their hideouts - either for fast transit or an easy getaway after being defeated by the hero, right before the building blows up." And the hero slips out in some dramatic scene or timed level. "It would make sense that Wily would have done the same here, just in case he happened to be in the building when it was invaded." Maria glanced back as she reached a right turn in the corridor, waiting for Elec to catch up. "The trick is to look for an opening."

            "You sound like an expert on this," Elec noted, coming to a stop next to the teen.

            "I just watch a lot of cartoons and play a lot of video games." Maria shrugged. "This sort of thing happens all the time." She peered around the corner, then threw a Fire Sphere. An explosion identical to earlier promptly rocked the corridor, but neither Maria nor Elec made a move to try and regain any footing; they had been expecting it, and therefore prepared accordingly.

            "And that?" Elec inquired, motioning to the new mess of wreckage that was in front of them.

            "Unexpected, but I'm certain it's been done in other places." Maria peered around the corner to double-check that there weren't any other cameras remaining. Satisfied that none were to be seen, she walked around the corner and started to climb over the debris, peering into each hole she passed. "Why would he even need this many generators, though? He's probably got plenty of other places he could use for robot production."

            "It's possible that it's become a habit for him," Elec replied as he started to move forward himself. "All of his fortresses in the past were used as factories. He may have more now, but nothing's changed for their inner workings in his mind."

            "Have you guys managed to destroy any of them?" Maria glanced back, giving him a curious look.

            "I believe that ProtoMan has come close a few times in the past," Elec admitted. "However, Wily just builds them back up again." He was about to walk past one of the other holes Maria had already inspected, but stopped mid-step, slowly turning his head to look at the gap in the wall he was standing next to.

            Maria, taking note that her footsteps were the only sounds in the corridor other than the leaking pipes and sparking wires of the robot generators, glanced back with a curious expression. "What is it, Elec? Did you find something?"

            "I believe I have." Elec took a step forward, then hesitantly placed one in the darkness on the other side of the hole. "My only hope is that we do not end up entering one of Shadow's portals."

            "Is that even possible?" Maria came over to stand behind him, looking into the dark curiously. "Wouldn't he have to open a portal himself in order for that to happen?"

            "Not necessarily." Elec glanced back before fully stepping into the dark, Maria following with a slight hesitation. "Wily found a way to mess with the teleportation systems we Robot Masters carry, effectively discovering Shadow's little underlying dimension, which he uses as a substitute for teleportation. Shadow suspects that it might have caused the doctor's sanity to deteriorate some."

            "Because it's not meant for humans to travel through?" Maria asked. They were fully in the darkness now, and gradually leaving the light of the corridor behind. Elec's yellow mask and gloves were glowing from the electricity that the Robot Master was sending through them, allowing Elec and Maria to see the metal walls covered in dead circuitry; obviously, this section of the building had not seen any sort of update or repair for some time.

            "Correct. Dr. Light went in there for a mere second, and Shadow had to bring him out instantly, because he'd very nearly had a panic attack because of how...pure the darkness was."

            "I can see how a human'd react to that. Human children usually have a fear of the dark, and request a nightlight of some sort in their rooms in order to make them more comfortable." Maria looked about, her right hand absently reaching out and tracing a weld on the wall, taking off large amounts of dust on each finger. "In that regard, I actually still have trouble with it, depending on what it was that I last saw before going to bed."

            Elec gave Maria a look of surprise. "You? Truly?"

            Maria nodded, a sheepish smirk appearing on her face. "I can get scared from time to time. Happens to everybody." She looked ahead, taking note that the passageway didn't seem to stop. "Can you sense Proto's energy signature? Or are the walls lined with lead or something to keep you from doing that?"

            "My systems have stretched my range as far as it will go, and no, there is nothing hindering it - at least, from this side of the wall."

            Maria frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

            "There is some sort of one-sided coating on the wall so that those on one side can sense who is on the other side, but not the other way around. Wily most likely added this as a precaution, so that we couldn't sense the locations of his robot generators-"

            "But the generators could pick up intruding enemy signals," Maria finished, picking up on what Elec was getting to. "I didn't even know there was a substance that could do that. I know that lead doesn't allow x-ray vision in any direction, but..." She trailed off, frowning a little as she tried to figure out what sort of substance might allow for what Elec had just described.

            "I doubt you'd be aware of such a material," Elec stated, as if he knew what Maria was trying to figure out. "From what you've said during your sparring sessions, our technology is much more advanced than your home world's."

            Maria nodded, letting out a sigh. "I should have remembered that." She chuckled. "After all, not all worlds are the same completely." She returned her attention to the wall, frowning slightly at all the dust that had collected there. "I wonder how long this building's been up and running. All this dust says it's been a long time, but that could just be because nothing really windy has passed through here in a while."

            "Wily could have built this place before executing his most recent plans," Elec admitted. "However, I'm not one to record his movements."

            "I kinda figured. You don't seem paranoid enough to do that."

            The Robot Master gave Maria a curious look. "What does paranoia have to do with that?"

            Maria shrugged. "Usually the most paranoid keep up with the most minute details, and I doubt that Dr. Light allowed anyone to be programmed with that sort of personality. I mean, who'd want a Robot Master like that?"

            "You make a valid point."

            The two continued walking further in uneasy silence - uneasy simply because Maria kept muttering under her breath about where the fan-bots might be hiding - stopping only when they reached a dead end in the passage.

            "Great," Maria muttered, glaring at the metal wall in front of them. "Now what?"

            Elec frowned slightly. "ProtoMan is close, somewhere on the other side of this wall..." He looked over at Maria. "We will have to break through it in order to reach him."

            "Ah, okay." Maria smirked. "What do you think will work? A Charged Shot? Some sort of elemental blast?"

            "It is most likely that we will have to find one of those exploding cameras and get it to set off," Elec responded. He started to look around, going along the wall, one hand reaching up for the ceiling as though he was trying to grab something.

            "How, though? I mean, the cameras are on the other side of the wall," Maria pointed out. "It's going to be a bit difficult to set them off."

            "Actually, it's not as hard as you think." Elec's reaching hand grabbed ahold of a rather thick, insulated wire, and he tugged on it a couple times to test its strength. "Splicing the cables and hot wiring the explosives should cause them to go off."

            "Should?" Maria raised an eyebrow at this. "What will it do if it doesn't do that?"

            "Set off the alarms, most likely. Although, it's likely that Wily already knows that we're here, seeing as we've caused more than enough damage to his robot generators."

            "Hmm..." Maria watched Elec as his fingers sharpened and he pried off a section of the insulation that was covering the wiring. "What about Air, though? He is the 'bot that's in charge of this place, right?"

            "He's probably the one who might have told Wily about what we're doing." Elec reached into the coil of wires and started to splice them, connecting different colored ones together in an attempt to mess with whatever was on the other side. "All Robot Masters are perceptive when it comes to security. It's likely he connected himself directly with the network when he first became aware of our presence."

            Maria's eyes widened slightly at this. "When I destroyed that first camera?"

            "Most likely. This was never a truly covert operation, Maria - ProtoMan most likely alerted him first." Elec removed his hand from the cable and moved the insulation back over the opening as sparks started to appear. "We shouldn't have too long to wait."

            Maria was about to ask how he would know when an electric surge shot up the cable. A moment later, Elec forced her to back up behind him right before a section of the wall in front of them exploded.

            Maria shielded her face from the shockwave that accompanied the blast, closing her eyes tightly in case any dust ended up blown into them. "That's got a lot of kick to it," she noted as everything died down (relatively speaking). "Hate to be standing any nearer to it if we run into any others."

            "Agreed," Elec responded. He looked ahead as the dust started to slowly settle, but there was so much of it that one could hardly see whatever was on the other side to the hole. "ProtoMan!" he called out. "Are you there?"

            A shadowy figure appeared in the hole in the wall, a large, football-shaped shield on his left arm. "About time you got here. Air's little copies have been starting to give me a little trouble."

            "Starting?" Maria smirked as she walked forward. "Only if they've been coming after you in mobs."

            Blues' head turned to look in Maria's direction, his visor furrowing slightly. "They were, until you set off that chain reaction with the explosives." The dust had mostly cleared up by this time, and the red and gray Robot Master made a sweeping motion to the slightly circular room behind him: it was filled with debris from the walls and ceiling, as well as the collapsed forms of the fan-bots, most of which were letting off sparks.

            "So, how close are we to shutting this place down?" Maria asked, stepping through the hole, Elec not too far behind.

            "Very." Blues motioned to a group of large, sparking neon blue columns that took up the center of the room. There were at least five of them in total, and a couple of them looked heavily damaged. "The central power generators are running on an energy I haven't seen used in this quantity before. Wily must have been working on perfecting them during the last few wars."

            Maria's eyes widened. Something about the columns...looked strangely familiar. However, she wasn't quite sure where she might have seen something like it before. There was one thing nagging her at the back of her mind, however...

            "Do you think it's flammable?" Maria asked, turning to look back at Blues.

            "Most likely. Fuels have to combust in order to produce any sort of energy." Blues frowned, then looked a little surprised. "You're not suggesting that you're going to set fire to those things, are you?"

            "If you want to see this whole building go up in smoke, I don't see why not." Maria shrugged. "Just say the word, and I can probably blow this whole place sky high."

            "Not on my watch."

            The three robots looked up, catching sight of a gigantic platform that lowered itself to the ground, landing between them and the power generator. On it was a broad-shouldered robot with its arms crossed over the front of his form, which was pretty much a giant circular fan that had arms and legs, as well as a pair of rather serious red optics that glared at the intruders.

            "AirMan," Blues identified, his right hand morphing into his Buster, his shield held in front of him defensively as he got into an aggressive stance. Maria and Elec got into similar stances, but the former didn't bring out her own Buster.

            "I knew you were planning on infiltrating my facility, but I didn't suspect that Dr. Light would be suicidal enough to send just three." Air's red-eyed gaze went over the three, stopping on Maria. "And with a new robot as one of your number, no less."

            Maria's eyes narrowed, but said nothing to acknowledge or deny the Wilybot's statement. She instead prepared to launch herself at the Robot Master, the energy level in her hands increasing so that she could start melting Air when she had the chance.

            Air didn't seem at all moved by the slight change in Maria's stance. "Next he'll be sending in your sister," the robot duly noted. "No matter - you will all be deactivated before he gets that chance." He let his arms fall to his sides right before the fan that made up most of his form promptly blasted the three, starting to send them slowly sliding backwards as the Wilybot started to walk forward.

            Maria let out a growl as she tried to find some sort of niche in the floor to dig her feet into; no such luck - the entire surface was polished and made completely of sheet metal that seemed to be one large piece. She figured that AirMan was planning on pinning the three of them to the wall before tearing them apart with either some sort of wind attack or using his mini copies to rip into them. How to avoid it, however...

            **Maria's POV**

            I was glaring at the enemy Robot Master when a thought occurred to me, quickly blossoming into a full-blown battle plan. I guess my new-found processing power was being put to good use at that point. Putting my robotic form to that same use, however, is going to be a different matter.

            Reaching down, I placed my hands on the floor and sent a large amount of energy into my arms, causing them to burst into flames. It took a little bit (and I'd been pushed back about half a foot), but I managed to get a piece of the floor torn up, creating a momentary shield while at the same time exposing power lines running from the central power generator - I could tell because the blue stuff seemed to be flowing from that direction. Setting off an explosion here would still manage to deal enough damage to destroy the facility, but it probably wouldn't do enough damage to the central power generator to fully shut the place down. For now, I had to consider the situation at hand: how to take out AirMan.

            "That won't shield you for long," Air noted, continuing to walk forward. However, his attention was diverted from Blues and Elec, which was just fine - I could serve as a distraction while they snuck up on him from behind. "Why did Dr. Light would insist on creating another fire-based Robot Master? There are more than enough of them in existence."

            "Why I exist is none of your business," I retorted shortly. I wasn't going to tell him about why I was even in this form - if Dr. Wily ended up hearing about it, he might end up doing the same thing to himself...and then the war wouldn't end unless someone managed to reach him and break him down for spare parts. No one would like me for that if I did end up blabbing.

            I brought out my Buster and started prepping for another Charged Shot; my energy reserves had probably been restored enough that I could risk firing on the Wilybot without going offline...or whatever robots would call getting knocked unconscious.

            "Soon you won't exist," AirMan retorted calmly. He was almost on top of me, now, and my temporary shelter was starting to bend from the force of the wind being pushed in my direction. If things worked out the way I'd hoped, he'd be knocked out pretty quickly.

            Taking my chances, I got up from where I had been kneeling behind the sheet of metal and fired directly into the Robot Master's fan. The wind slowed down my shot slightly, but it wasn't powerful enough to stop it in its tracks completely - instead, the shot's energy ended up dissipating a little before it came into contact with the metal blades.

            The Wilybot let out a grunt as my shot hit him, damaging one of the blades and leaving a small, slightly relieving gap in the blast of wind he was sending my way. If I managed to get enough energy for another shot, I might be able to knock out more of the blades in order to leave him without any offensive movements involving wind.

            "Take this!" Electricity arched through AirMan as Elec and Blues launched a double attack of sorts from behind; it occurred to me that Blues might have the same copying ability that Rock did, seeing as he was the prototype for all the Robot Masters (to a certain extent, at least). The Wilybot's fan sputtered before he stumbled forward, crashing into the metal sheet I was hiding behind, damaging him further. Now, his blades weren't so capable of creating the high-speed winds I'm sure he was known for.

            Grinning, I stood up and leveled my Buster in his face...but Elec and Blues jumped over and grabbed me before I could fire another shot, dragging me back.

            "Hey! What-" My eyes widened when I saw that AirMan's form was starting to splutter and cough, smoke and sparks being released from his joints and the cavity in his center, where the destroyed fan was.

            "Get down!" Blues ordered, holding his shield in front of him. Elec and I were quick to hunker down behind him as AirMan started to glow, releasing beams of light...

            Right before exploding. Robot parts were scattered in all directions as a fireball went up from where the Wilybot had been standing. It was a wonder that the power generator didn't go off itself, what with all the heat that was generated from the blast.

            Blues lifted his shield up slightly, one of AirMan's hands bouncing off it as he looked at the wreckage. "Well, that's one less Robot Master to deal with," he stated grimly. "Now to take care of that power source."

            "We could take care of it from here, probably," I stated, walking over to where I had pulled up the metal and motioning to the cables below. "This stuff looks really flammable, too, so probably just one buster shot will take it out." I frowned slightly. "But we might end up getting blown sky-high in the process."

            "Dr. Wily usually builds a self-destruct sequence into his fortresses," Elec stated. "If we can initiate the countdown, we can run out without getting damaged."

            Blues nodded in approval. "Then we just have to find the switch." He started to scan the room, looking for something that might have been connected to a bunch of explosions, when a thought occurred to me.

            "Guys? What if Air was the switch?"

            As if confirming my thoughts, the entire room started flashing as red lights started going off out of nowhere, in synch with a blaring noise that caught me by surprise.

            _"Self-destruct sequence initiated. Structure will detonate in ten minutes."_

            I sighed. "Oh, boy." Looking over at the other two, I stated, "We'd better get out of here fast."

            Blues nodded. "We'll take the way out that I took in. Follow me."

            **Spacial Break**

            Wily let out a snarl and slammed the dashboard in front of a wall of monitors as he glared at the one that had just gone offline. Of all the times to lose one of his Robot Masters, and of all the opponents, it had to be the new Lightbot and two veterans! The only good thing that had come out of it was that he had actually gotten a better view of the new addition.

            "Why would you build another fire-based Robot Master, Tom?" Dr. Wily asked, frowning as he stroked his gray mustache. "By Ra Moon, you've already got yours and one of mine." The last three words came out in a growl. "And why a female? Did you want Roll to have company? If you did, you wouldn't have equipped this...'Fire Woman' with the abilities she has. Hmmm..." He turned his attention to another section of his lab, which was filled with scrapped robot parts and who knows what else. "Perhaps..." A wicked grin appeared on his face. "Perfect!" He promptly jumped into a pile of cables and started to get to work...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was actually pretty cool, writing out that fight against Airman. I was starting to get a bit more confident in writing battles like this at this point, but I was still a bit rusty.


	8. Training in the art of camouflage

            "You did what?!" Rock looked at Maria and Blues in shock as they stood in the rec room.

            "Took out that weather machine," Maria responded with a careless shrug. "You don't have to look so shocked about it."

            Rock shook his head, looking a little lost for words. "It's not that. I'm surprised you actually managed to face AirMan without losing any of your energy."

            "Having two others at your back certainly helps." Maria grinned at Blues, who nodded in return. Elec had left to report to Dr. Light directly, leaving the other two to tell the Robot Masters about what had been done. " 'Sides, I probably only managed to survive so long because I ripped up part of the floor to use as a shield before blasting part of his fan apart with a charged shot."

            "From what I heard from Elec, she handled herself pretty well on her way over to the weather machine," Blues added.

            Rock's eyes widened, and Maria frowned slightly.

            "What's with you? You look like you haven't heard Blues speak before," Maria noted.

            Rock shook his head. "It's not that. It's that I haven't heard him compliment anyone so easily. You haven't even been here for a month yet!"

            Maria blinked in surprise. "That's what's got you so worked up? A mere statement? I've gone longer without compliments before." She shrugged. "Pleasing a group of more experienced explorers when you've lost you're memory is more than tough enough."

            "Explorers?" Blues repeated, frowning.

            Maria nodded. "The second world I went to had a bit of a problem with time stopping, causing the planet to freeze up. I arrived in the bad future and traveled to the distant past in order to correct the problem, but I ended up getting attacked while in the timestream. I ended up transforming into a six-tailed fox called a Vulpix, and I also lost my memory." She shrugged. "An electric mouse - referred to as a Pikachu in that realm - found me and suggested that we become a pair of explorers, thinking that my memory might return in the process. I accepted his offer, and the two of us worked our way up, stopping the bad future from happening in the process. I regained my memories not soon after, when a powerful creature named Palkia returned me to human form and sent me on another journey."

            "That doesn't sound so tough," noted another voice. Bass walked in, a large purple, wolf-like dog walking along beside him.

            "I was stuck as a little creature about yea high." Maria leaned down, her left hand stopping halfway between her knee and her ankle. "Try taking on a monster that's about half as big as the building with just destroyed at that size." She gave Bass a dry smirk. "It isn't all that fun if you don't have the right skills to apply to the situation, trust me."

            Bass' eyes widened slightly. "Really? You got shrunk?"

            "More like transformed - into a fire-breathing, six-tailed fox without any memory of my previous excursions. And then I got teamed up with a yellow mouse that released electricity whenever he felt like it. Not at me, though." Maria shrugged. "So, what's up with you? And what's your wolf doing in here?"

            "What, Gospel?" Bass glanced down at the purple wolf, who had sat down next to him and was giving Maria a slightly curious look. "He's been with Rock's pets, and I figured he should get away from those boring things for a little while."

            Maria frowned slightly. "Gospel? In all honesty, I never thought of that as a name for any animal."

            Bass frowned, looking a little annoyed. He tensed up slightly. "Are you dissing my pet?"

            Maria held up her hands quickly in defense. "Not at all! It's just...an unusual name."

            Bass relaxed slightly, as did Gospel, who had looked like he had been prepared to pounce at a moment's notice. "I guess you could say that."

            "You wouldn't bring your pet out here just for some quality time," Blues voiced, frowning slightly. "What's really on your mind?"

            Bass sent a glare in Blues' direction. "All right, fine. I'm getting bored in this dump, and I want some action out there, like that factory you busted up with the newbie. I mean, come on! I wasn't built yesterday!"

            "I'm aware of that, Bass," Blues responded shortly. "But your previous actions against Wily's forces lead me to think you haven't been able to mature enough for that kind of responsibility."

            Bass stuttered a little before finding his words. "Mature?! I was built this way, Lightbot! If you want me to be mature, go and ask Wily for my blueprints. Then maybe I could get to be more mature."

            Rock stared at Bass in shock. "Are you suggesting that Dad wouldn't be able to figure you out?"

            "I'm the most advanced robot to date," Bass replied boldly. "I doubt he would even be able to tell a processor from a spark plug."

            "To put it bluntly, he made me," Maria stated boldly, putting her right fist to her chest, "and let me keep everything that made me who I was as a human." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I think that merits him the right to look into your systems."

            Bass frowned and was about to issue a retort when Dr. Light came bursting in, a delighted look on his face.

            "It's started raining!" the roboticist exclaimed, clearly delighted.

            "Really?" Rock looked eagerly surprised. "Dr. Wily didn't create a backup for the weather control system that was destroyed?"

            "Apparently not. Now we can take full advantage of the weather surveillance system we have, and put Fire, Elec, and Ice to good use. All thanks to you, Blues."

            "Not just me," Blues responded. "Maria proved to be a good asset in the destruction of Wily's fortress."

            "I didn't do much..." Maria stated, a little embarrassed from the attention she was getting from the inventor. "All I did was partially blast AirMan's fan out of whack." She shrugged her left shoulder. "You and Elec finished him off."

            "But you kept him distracted enough to allow us to do so," Blues pointed out. "Sometimes it's better if an experienced person serves as the distraction."

            Dr. Light blinked a little at Blues' statement, but he shook it off. Turning to face Maria, he stated, "I've also come up with something. Your statement about five days ago has been going through my mind, and I think that I've got a name for the type of robot you are now." The roboticist grinned. "You're a Replicating Android because, as a former human, you have everything that makes you as close to human in all but body."

            Maria's eyes widened slightly, and she nodded, a smirk appearing on her face. "We should come up with a shorter name, in case you end up mass-producing others later."

            "What about...Reploid?" Rock suggested.

            "Sounds good," Maria responded, giving Rock a thumbs-up. "So, what now? I mean, Wily probably isn't going to sit on his hands waiting for us to destroy his next fortress or robot minion."

            Blues nodded in agreement while Bass looked suddenly eager. "We need to keep striking in order to keep him down and his resources thinning out. I already have a list of possible targets." The prototype sent Bass a look. "And no, I'm not planning on sending you to any of them."

            Bass glared back, Gospel responding to his owner's anger by growling at Blues. His next actions surprised Maria: he shrugged and gave the Reploid a smirk.

            "I guess you're going to be heading out again then, right?" Bass asked snidely.

            "Maria is going to be training with SwordMan and ShadowMan while Ice, Fire, and GutsMan go out on another raid," Blues answered as Maria opened her mouth. "Her techniques still need to be fully adjusted to her new form."

            Maria blinked in surprise at Blues' statement, then nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It does feel a little uncomfortable with all this armor still, but I know I'll be able to get used to it pretty quickly."

            "Working with Robot Masters will speed up your adjustment," Dr. Light noted. "And, perhaps, you may pick up a few more techniques from them."

            Maria grinned. "Now that would be cool." She started to look around. "Speaking of which, I should probably get going. Shadow'd probably think up some sort of crazy exercise just because I ended up late." Maria started to jog out of the red room before a black portal suddenly opened up to her right.

            Shadow came out of it halfway and grabbed Maria's arm. "You're late." He dragged her through without another word, the portal closing shut behind him.

            **Spacial Break**

            Maria let out a grunt as she stood on the front section (toes, the "balled" muscles) of her left foot while at the same time stretching her right leg in an upward direction, as though she were attempting to bring her right foot up to her head. Shadow watched from an upside-down position nearby, somehow having managed to attach himself to the ceiling using a thin, black rope. Sword was leaning against a nearby wall (all of the ones in the training area were white), looking more bored than interested in what the Reploid was being forced to go through.

            "And why do I have to do this, Shads?" Maria asked, giving Shadow an exasperated look as she struggled to keep her position.

            "You are going to need to work on your flexibility as well as your balance," the robot ninja replied calmly. An annoyed look momentarily crossed his face. "And don't call me that."

            Maria smirked; she would have grinned hugely had she not been in her strange predicament. "Fine, fine. Still, though - I probably don't need to do this. Weren't our bodies built to be maximum everything or something?"

            "If you were built to be 'maximum everything,' I doubt you would be able to move," SwordMan pointed out from where he was.

            Maria glared at the Robot Master. "You're no fun. But really, what's the point in stretching when he already calibrated my joints and stuff?"

            "Because it is good to know your limits, and as a Reploid, you are capable of doing things as a human would," Shadow stated. "And that includes stretching out your joints to beyond their maximum capacity."

            Maria's face scrunched up into a scowl. "Like I ever had to do anything like this before." At a motion from Shadow, the Reploid brought her leg down and tested the joint for a moment before looking back at the ninja. "So, now what?"

            "Now we look into training you with the abilities you were given to use," Shadow replied. He jumped downs doing a backflip so that he could land on his feet. "As you already have mastered what there is of your fire, there are other things for you to work with. The Light Refractor would be a good place to start."

            "Light Refractor?" Maria repeated, raising an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to do?"

            Shadow gave her a neutral look, then suddenly disappeared, rippling as though he were a mirage before completely fading out.

            Sword's eyes widened. "Where did you get that power?"

            "The Light Refractor's prototype," replied Shadow's voice. The Reploid turned sharply as she heard footsteps behind her, catching sight of the robot ninja as he seemingly materialized. "It allows me to hide myself by keeping the light from bouncing off my form. Dr. Light used it to hide the existence of your armor from you until the time that he thought was right."

            Maria's eyes filled with surprise. "Well...I guess that makes sense. And now I can use it to hide from cameras and stuff?"

            "I doubt you will need to hide from cameras, now that you have shown yourself to AirMan, and through him, Dr. Wily," Sword pointed out. "If anything, you will have to hide from the Metts he has managed to arm over the course of the war."

            Shadow nodded in agreement. "First, you must learn how to activate it, as a robotic form is very different from that of a human's. Focus your processor on accessing the Refractor."

            Maria frowned slightly. "Easier said than done." Nevertheless, she exhaled before closing her eyes and concentrating on trying to find a way to camouflage her physical form.

            Instantly, green text scrolled across her blackened vision, running through each of her systems - and stating that they were all running at optimal efficiency. At the bottom of the list was the one that she was looking for.

            _Light Refractor: off and automatic. Switch to manual: Y/N?_

  1. _Definitely._



            Maria opened her eyes and looked down at her armored form, which flickered for a moment before she put a little more willpower into getting it activated, causing the clothes she had worn before to reappear over her armor.

            Shadow nodded in approval. "Good. Now to make sure you can actually turn it on and off of your own accord. Continue practicing. SwordMan will monitor you while I look into something." Without another word, the robotic ninja opened a dark portal behind him and disappeared into it.

            Maria blinked in slight confusion as she watched the portal close up behind him. "What would he have any sort of interest in?" She finally asked, turning to look at SwordMan.

            "He's probably spying on our old master," SwordMan responded calmly. "After all, now that he's seen you, it is likely that he is planning some sort of counter-measure to defeat you."

            Maria frowned slightly, concern coming over her face. "Well, I suspected that he might be planning something like that, but wouldn't he just need some sort of water trap or something? I mean, I am a Reploid who uses fire."

            "Your model might make things more difficult than just that," Sword responded. "As you are a prototype for a new type of robot, it is possible that weaknesses have been changed - or muted in some way."

            "Meaning that it'll take a lot of water to try and bring me down," Maria guessed. Her holographic disguise flickered before fading out entirely. "Or, it'll at least short out my fire abilities for a little while."

            "That would be my guess, as well." Sword stood up straight, stepping away from the wall as he got into a defensive stance. "That Light Refractor of yours should allow you to not only disguise your armor, but disguise yourself, as well. Let us see if you can hide yourself from me as we spar." He promptly leapt at her, his blade covered in flames.

            Maria sidestepped the attack with a slight jump, then started trying to concentrate on disappearing from sight. She didn't even bother to look down at her form as she and Sword started to circle. The Reploid could guess that he could probably still see her, as his eyes where still locked with hers, not even blinking.

            The girl considered the fact that they didn't even need to blink, as they were robots rather than beings who needed moisture to survive.

            Maria's mind continued to run as she tried to make herself invisible, and Sword started to become a little more aggressive with his attacks. The Reploid continued to move, taking steps back as she bent back in order to avoid the sword that was coming directly at her.

            "Come on, come on," Maria muttered through gritted teeth. "I need to disappear like Espio already!"

            Sword frowned, a confused look coming over his face as he paused his attack. "Who?"

            "No one you should worry about," the Reploid responded, jumping back a good distance. A frown came over her face as she tried to concentrate again. "Hmmm... I could be going about this the wrong way. Maybe I can figure out a different way to hide my form...?" Her eyes widened. "That's it!"

            Sword gave her a strange look, but then started forward again, raising his sword as if to strike the Reploid, who closed her eyes and scrunched them up tightly in a look of concentration - or disgust from some sort of sour food, the Robot Master wasn't exactly sure which.

            Right before Sword brought down the sword to tap lightly on Maria's shoulder, there was a ripple that went across Maria's form...right before she vanished.

            Maria opened her eyes hesitantly, only to see that Sword had stopped his weapon and was looking at her in surprise. Carefully, the Reploid took a step back, watching as Sword continued to stand in that stance, blinking as a look of confusion came over his face.

            Sword relaxed his sword arm, letting it drop to his sides as he looked around as Maria continued to move, doing her best to keep her steps light so as to avoid detection. Up in one corner of her vision was some sort of progress bar that was slowly starting to go down - a timer of some sort, she figured - probably for how long she had to remain hidden.

            Now, Maria was circling Sword as he looked around, his eyes scanning for the Reploid as he tried to spot the invisible figure. At one point, her foot came down with a loud clang, forcing Maria to leap quickly in order for Sword to miss when he lunged.

            "I believe you have practiced enough," Sword spoke aloud as he finally came to a stop, looking upward a little as though Maria might have actually been above him. "Reveal yourself, Maria."

            "I'm right behind you." Maria crossed her hands over her chest and smirked as her form flickered into existence. "The Refractor's got to recharge. I managed to keep you running in circles until it ran out of power."

            "It is good to see that you managed to keep away from me for that long," Sword noted. "However, it might be a better idea if you learned how to get in and out of your camouflaged state at will."

            "Well, we're going to have to wait for it to recharge a little at least before I try it again," Maria noted.

            "How is it that you managed to figure it out, anyway?"

            Maria looked a little sheepish. "I was surprised I didn't think of it sooner, actually. The main idea wasn't to make a disguise that didn't mimic my surroundings, but it was to actually force the light to not acknowledge my presence. Basically, all of the light was refracted off me." She frowned a little. "You...didn't notice any sort of...rippling in the air, did you?"

            "Rippling?" The Robot Master repeated, frowning slightly. After a moment, he shook his head slowly. "No, I did not see any sort of movement like that."

            Maria let out a sigh. "All right; good. Because there are a lot of other parts of the universe in which cloaking devices aren't as good as what you might expect. If the Light Refractor can at least cover my movements without even a ripple, then I can concentrate more on my feet and where I'm going rather than if anyone can see they've got an intruder."

            "Well, I wouldn't rely on just the Light Refractor to disguise you." Maria frowned as she gave SwordMan a curious look. This prompted him to continue, "Robot Masters are equipped with different detectors meant to find any intruders or see if there might be anyone who has need of their help. I deactivated mine so as to give you a fair advantage in the initial testing stages."

            Maria frowned and crossed her arms over her chest in an annoyed fashion. "Well, that's just great. Now I'll probably have to practice dampening any signals that I might be giving off."

            "It's mostly your heat signature. I doubt that they will be searching for anything else."

            Rock ran into the room in his armor, a serious look on his face. "Maria, Fire's planning on doing a raid on GeminiMan's location, and he wants to take you with him. Are you up to it?"

            "Sure, why not?" Maria responded with a smirk, turning to face him. "Are you heading out, too?"

            Rock nodded. "Elec and I are going to head to BubbleMan's location and try to take him out. Now that the weather machine's been taken down, we can try to up our game and take out more of his sub-bosses' bases of operations."

            "Awesome." Maria gave the boy a thumbs up. "Good luck. If we can take them both out and keep this up, we should be able to take Wily out in no time!"

            "Hopefully," Rock agreed with a nod. He looked over at SwordMan. "Blues wanted to talk to you and Shadow about something. He's waiting in the debriefing room for you."

            Sword nodded slightly. "Understood. I'll head there now." Giving a nod of farewell to Maria - who returned the gesture - the Robot Master turned and started for the exit from the training room.

            "We should get going, too," Rock stated, getting Maria's attention. "Gemini's not going to be an easy robot to beat."

            "Considering that he makes holograms of himself in order to fight people," Maria muttered. A determined look came over her face. "Maybe my practice with the Light Refractor can give me a little bit of an advantage." She started to stride forward out of the training area, Rock following close behind. "Hey, Rock - how close it Gem's hidey hole from here, anyway?"

            "It's probably about as far as the weather machine was," Rock replied, looking up at the Reploid. "It's going to be a little more difficult getting there, though, mainly because of all the reflective traps he's set up."

            Maria gave him a curious look. "Have you already tried to go over there?"

            "Yeah. We know that heat can create mirages, and we'd hoped that Fire and me could be able to break up the traps without a problem." Rock let out a sigh. "Doesn't seem like my copy ability allows me to raise the heat very high..."

            Maria frowned slightly, mulling over what little she knew about the Robot Masters and what she speculated. "You know, it might not be your ability. It could be that your core just can't handle the amount of energy the ability asks for."

            "You think so?" Rock gave the Reploid a curious look.

            Maria shrugged. "It seems to make the most sense to me. I mean, Fire's built to handle high temperatures, right?" She looked over at Rock, and upon seeing a confirming nod, continued, "That means his body can probably dish out high temperatures, too. He's probably got a fast cooling system to help counteract it so that he doesn't overload from the heat."

            Rock's eyes widened slightly. "How'd you know?"

            Maria blinked, then frowned. "You know, I think it just popped into my head." She looked over at Rock with a curious expression. "Has that ever happened to you before?"

            Rock frowned, then nodded slowly. "Yeah - when Dr. Light sent me information on my mission objectives. I don't think he would have done that with you for any reason at this point, though."

            "Well, it's either that, or I'm starting to get more information on my systems." Maria blinked, a slight frown still on her face. "Although why I'm getting it now would probably be a better question."

            "Information can come at the strangest of instances," Rock noted. "It could be that the information was hidden in your processor and now was the right time for it to be revealed."

            "That could be it," Maria agreed. "But, it still popped up at a strange point."

**Spacial Break**

            Enker peered into his master's lab, looking around nervously as he saw that the mess that had been there when he had exited last had become even worse: cables were strewn everywhere, and it looked like there was a base of some sort of device that had been built into the middle of the room. Most of the cables had been connected to a nearby computer, but there were still a few that were left lying unconnected, sparks flying from the plugs.

            The mad scientist himself was working on the computer terminal, typing furiously with one hand as he screwed something in with his other, a few screws stuck into his mouth like spindly cigarettes.

            "Master?" Enker asked nervously.

            "Hmmm?" Wily looked up from the glowing computer screen in front of him, glancing over one shoulder as his typing slowed. Tearing the screws out of his mouth, he asked, "What is it, Enker?"

            "We're getting reports that three teams have invaded our territory," Enker stated, taking a step inside the lab.

            A sneer made its way across Wily's face. "Perfect! Do you know if the new Robot Master is among them?"

            "The Metts in Gemini's area have noted a drastic increase in heat - much more so than when it's just that walking furnace and that MegaJerk." Enker crossed his arms over his chest. "He's in a different sector with the walking generator, and his brother's out there, too."

            Wily's sneer turned into a full-blown, crazed grin, and he let out a short, loud laugh. "This day just keeps getting better and better!" Turning his gaze to look at Enker directly, he stated, "See to it that the Robot Masters are relayed this message: they must capture the new Robot Master or MegaMan or ProtoMan. I want them alive, do you understand me?"

            Enker blinked, then nodded slowly. "Understood. But why those three? Why not the others?"

            "Just do it!" Wily snarled in reply.

            Enker backed up a step, eyes widening a little as he raised his hands in defense. "Okay, okay! No need to get snippy. I'll tell the others." He turned and slipped out of the room without another word.

            Wily glared after the MegaMan killer as he disappeared from sight. Turning around to look back at his work and putting the screws back in his mouth, he started to mutter under his breath as he continued to type. "I'd better get this old thing finished before they manage to get what I had ordered them to do." He paused and looked over at a nearby capsule, shrouded in shadows cast from the computer screen. "Even if they don't get one of those three, I can still put it to good use." A particularly evil sneer came across his face, and the screws fell out of his mouth as he started to laugh maniacally, his voice echoing throughout his lab...


	9. An old snakeskin

            Maria looked around as she and Fire walked down the ruined road, her eyes constantly moving as she tried to search for anything that might turn into one of the many reflective "traps" that the Reploid had been warned about when she had left the base with Fire. Already, they had stumbled across a couple mirror traps that made Maria's sense of direction get a little befuddled for a moment - mostly, they were temporary mazes that could easily be knocked down, but there were a few enemies that hid behind some of the erected mirrors, which made things all the more difficult.

            Maria was certain that Gemini knew they were coming, too - and Fire had confirmed it when a pair of "Mega-Metts" had jumped them with axes made of hard crystal. A couple Charged Shots ended up shattering their weapons, and their other attacks managed to take care of the rest of the threat without any sort of problem.

            Now the two were just passed the battle site, even more on the alert than they had been.

            Maria mentally checked the map she had downloaded before leaving from Light's base. Their target was still a decent ways away, and they had only just pierced Wily's territory. MegaMan and Elec had traveled with them for a little while before splitting off to go after BubbleMan, who was sure to be in for a shocking battle, judging from the look that had been on the electric Robot Master's face.

            ProtoMan and Bass had been standing together nearby when the two teams had left, Gospel lying on the floor in front of them in what looked like a napping position. Bass looked like he had been cornered, and there was a dark glint in his eyes that Maria hadn't taken as good news. Dr. Light was nearby, as well, and it looked like he had just finished talking to them when Maria had found Fire after leaving the training area.

            "Do you think there are any other enemies nearby?" Maria muttered to Fire as she looked around. Her eyes instinctively went to the rooftops, which she scanned for a moment before catching sight of movement behind broken windows on one of the upper floors. Her head turned slightly in order to see if there might have been movement on the other side, as well, but she didn't see anything that hinted at another reflective trap.

            "They're always nearby," Fire muttered in reply. His voice was somewhat muffled because of the piece of gray metal that had shifted over his mouth - a specifically-made battlemask to help keep most of his heat in his systems to stoke his inner fires for combat use. "They just like to pop up when and where you least expect it."

            Maria's eyes narrowed slightly as she continued to look around, her eyes scanning the buildings where she had first seen the figure. "And then there's the ones that seem to like the same sort of hiding places." She spotted a familiar hard hat peering out from one of the alleys, and she brought out her Buster and fired a couple shots at it, causing the hat to be flung away and the robot underneath to be blown to pieces. "Some of the more idiotic ones seem to like to do that."

            Fire sent her a curious look. "What do you mean by that?"

            "When you've seen enough of the different corners of the universe that are out there, the places where your enemies hide start to become a little predictable."

            There was a flash up in one of the windows in the buildings to their left, and Maria turned her head sharply in order to try and catch sight of what it might have been that was watching them. Unfortunately, she was not fast enough, as the whatever-it-was had disappeared.

            "Of course, there is still the occasion when I can be surprised," Maria muttered under her breath.

            Fire saw where her eyes were wandering to, and he looked in that direction as well, catching sight of a dashing figure that Maria had been catching sight of now and then, as well. "Possible enemy?" he asked, looking up at the rooftops suspiciously.

            "Could be." Maria nodded slightly as the two of them stopped. "It could also be Shadow, though - I didn't see him when we left."

            Fire frowned, then shook his head. "No, it couldn't be. We wouldn't have seen him otherwise." He started forward again, the one fiery cannon he had kept out whirring softly as it started to charge up in case he had to take a shot at anything.

            Maria turned a little and started walking back-to-back with the Robot Master, left hand on her Buster, watching their backs in case the figure they had seen decided to try and sneak up from behind when they weren't looking.

            "Then who do you think it is?" The Reploid mentally brought up a list of the remaining Robot Masters tat Wily had under his control, scratching out BubbleMan as she knew he had his hands full with Rock and Elec. "Another one of the junkpiles Wily built?"

            "Could be." Fire voiced in reply with a grunt. "Most of them have territories carved out of the city given to them by Wily. And the rest of the country's been kept at bay because of all of the lesser robots he's created."

            "I take it there isn't anyone left in the city," Maria noted. There was a flash of green and white in the corner of her vision, and she looked up to her right, catching sight of a figure backing away from the edge of one of the building roofs. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she continued to look up there in case the figure decided to show up again. Her core temperature started to rise, as well, in case what this figure was happened to be just another mirage that would be destroyed as soon as it came into contact with her heat.

            "No. The human authorities made sure that the danger zones were evacuated, and Wily has been concentrating too much on Dr. Light lately to care too much about what the other humans do at this point." Fire stopped, and Maria bumped into his back. "I think I know who's trailing us."

            Maria stiffened a little, looking to her right again and scanning the rooftops. "His color scheme wouldn't happen to be white and green, would it?"

            "How-"

            "I just caught sight of him. Who is he, Fire?"

            "SnakeMan." Maria heard Fire's form shifting a little, as if he were getting ready to lunge forward at something...or someone. "He's one of the ones Wily likes to keep in his fortress for some reason."

            "What's he doing all the way out here?" Maria frowned, trying to branch her sensors out a little in order to try and see if she could find their stalker.

            "Gemini could have asked him for help. Seeing as you managed to destroy AirMan." The two started to circle, back to back.

            "Not single handedly," the Reploid grumbled as she got to where Fire had been standing. "I don't see how I can be any sort of threat."

            "Master sees everything as a threat."

            The two fire users looked up abruptly at a rooftop that was to Maria's left. On one corner of the rooftop a figure was crouched, a mostly white jumpsuit covering his form, minus the green forearms and black upper arms and legs. The Reploid caught sight of a green thing that seemed to be twitching back and forth behind the Robot Master on the roof, and guessed that it was the rest of the snake that was connected to him, seeing as there was a snake's head covering the robot's own like a helmet.

            The figure jumped off the corner and landed on the cracked road below with a loud bang, straightening from his slightly crouched position and stretching as Fire and Maria both turned to face him. "Even those who were only just brought into the world." His red eyes sparked as he looked over Maria carefully. "So, you're the 'FireWoman' I've been hearing so much about, huh?"

            Maria's eyes narrowed. "It's Maria, you old snakeskin."

            "And it's SnakeMan, you pile of junk!" SnakeMan retorted, pointing an accusing finger at her. "And Dr. Wily wants to see you, according to what Enker said. I came out here in order to bring you to him." He turned his attention to Fire, a rather sinister smile coming across his face as his eyes became filled with a strange, crazed glee. "But he didn't say anything about letting your friend come with." A Buster-type weapon replaced his right hand, and he fired a small missile from it that looked like a snake straight at FireMan.

            Maria retracted her Buster and moved away as FireMan dodged as well, leaving the missile to connect with the wall of the building behind them. To their surprise, however, the snake-like weapon adjusted itself so that it could turn around and crawl down it. It then got onto the ground and started to move towards them at high speed.

            "Oh no, you don't! Fire Sphere!" Maria blasted the missile, causing it to explode a couple feet before it reached them. She turned to look over at where Snake had been standing when he had fired the missile, only to find that FireMan had surrounded the Wilybot with a ring of fire in an attempt to keep the robot from moving too far and attacking them when they weren't looking.

            SnakeMan let out a bored yawn. "You do realize that snakes in the presence of any source of heat speed up?" A wicked grin crept across his face right before he leapt up over the licking flames, his movements seemingly faster than they had been before. "This will make it all the harder for you to beat me - your strength adds to mine!"

            "But it can still hurt!" Maria barked in response, charging up another Fire Sphere, which she promptly threw at the Robot Master. Unfortunately, he dodged easily.

            "Sheesh, AirMan must've gotten slow if you were able to beat him!" SnakeMan taunted, grinning as he started to dash around the two.

            Maria could barely make out his adapted Buster right before one of the missiles hit her in her right leg, creating a small explosion and causing her to go down with a yell. FireMan was soon in the same situation.

            FireMan let out a grunt. "We can't use our fire powers again - it'll only make him even stronger. Which leaves me completely weapon less!" He blasted a missile that was coming right at them. "At least the Search Snakes are still weak to it."

            Maria frowned, bringing out her Buster and rubbed the cannon thoughtfully as she tries to follow SnakeMan's movements. "When I was human, the staff I had allowed me to access more than just fire attacks." She looked down at the Buster for a moment before her eyes widened, a look of realization coming over her face. "Maybe..." She brought up her Buster and aimed it at where SnakeMan was running, closing one eye so as to get better aim with her weapon.

            The Wilybot saw the Buster and let out a laugh. "Your energy pellets are going to be based off the power that you tried on me before. I doubt that you'll be able to do anything to me that'll do you any good."

            "That's what you think," Maria muttered under her breath. Already, her mind had gone through the necessary programming in order to make the changes she wanted made. Her Buster started to charge up as her core temperature dropped. "Three...two...one..."

            A blast of blue energy came out of the Buster, connecting with the ground right as SnakeMan ran over that specific section Maria had been aiming at.

 

"Gah!" SnakeMan fell forward, but wasn't able to get too far, only his hand and cannon touched the ground - the bottom of his feet were frozen to the ground. He turned and looked over at the Reploid in surprise. "How did you do that?"

            "My secret," Maria responded, slowly getting to her feet, her Buster still trained on the Wilybot. "Fire? What should we do with him?"

            Fire got up, frowning slightly as he looked over at the trapped Robot Master. "We could find that self-destruct switch and turn it off so that he can't explode on his own. Then we can drag him back to Light Labs or find Shadow and have him drag the snakeskin back." He walked over and, finding the mentioned switch, flicked it before retreating before SnakeMan could have fired anything at him.

            "I am not a snakeskin!" SnakeMan barked from his odd position. He tried to bend his knees, but his feet couldn't bend to allow him to get up. He instead pushed with his hands in order to try to get up, but he was unable to maintain his balance at first.

            "Shadow's probably near enough that we can get him to drag the Wilybot back," Maria suggested. She looked over at SnakeMan - taking note that he had finally managed to get completely upright - and fired another icy clot in his direction, freezing up his cannon arm. While Snake sent her a murderous look, Maria's left arm moved to her ear. "Hey, Shadow? Ya there?"

            _::What is it that you need, Reploid?::_

            "Fire and I caught Snake. Self destruct's taken care of. Think you could pick him up?"

_::Is he still active?::_

            "If you mean 'not knocked out,' yes. He's presently weapon less, though, since I froze his cannon up."

            "Literally," Fire added, jumping onto the comm-link signal. "Her Buster has more upgrades and weapon capabilities than Rock's."

_::The staff she had used before this, no doubt, was the cause of that::_

            "Point is, are you going to get our prisoner or not?" Maria asked, annoyed.

            All she got on Shadow's end was static. The reason why was quickly revealed, however, when a black portal appeared to their left, almost directly behind SnakeMan.

            The Wilybot started to turn slowly, but a ninja star embedded itself in the back of his neck, and his form almost instantly slumped, a look of confusion and surprise still on his face. Obviously, he had been forcefully either been shut down or put into stasis.

            "He was recording what was going on around him and was sending it to Wily," Shadow stated as he stepped out of the portal. "My attack neutralized the recording process, and his processor. Dr. Light will find it much easier to reprogram him." He looked over at Fire, who stepped forward and started to melt the ice that was around SnakeMan's feet. While Fire worked, Shadow looked specifically at Maria. "Your staff was the source of this kind of energy, wasn't it?"

            The Reploid nodded slightly. "Yeah. It let me use electrical energy, too, but I didn't really use either all that often." She looked over her Buster again and let out a slight chuckle. "I guess now I know I'll be using it more often, now."

            "It will certainly be useful," Shadow agreed.

            There was the sound of cracking ice as SnakeMan's feet finally gave way and he fell back, the robotic ninja catching him deftly. Fire stepped back as another black portal appeared.

            Shadow gave them a nod. "I shall see you when you return." With that, he stepped through the portal and disappeared, the portal closing up seamlessly behind him.

            Fire and Maria exchanged a quick glance, then nodded and returned to walking deeper into GeminiMan's territory.

            "That's another one down," Maria muttered as she switched her Buster's energy back to the default power core. "Counting who we've got left besides the one's we're gunning for, it's eleven."

            "And you're a walking target now that Wily's seen you," Fire noted. His eyes started to scan the area again, looking for any sort of traps that might have been placed for them to fall into. "And now that we've taken down SnakeMan with a lot less difficulty than I had expected, we're probably going to be running into a lot more than just the few Metts that are scattered about behind some of those mirrors."

            Maria let out a sigh. "They never make things easy..."

            "If they did, we wouldn't have to strive so hard to achieve justice," Fire responded. "While that would be nice, it would also mean that the enemy has probably been weakened somehow."

            "True."

            Maria's right foot suddenly sunk on a piece of road, and a loud click resounded from the ground below her. As the Reploid looked down at her foot in surprise, there was the sound of multiple gears turning, and she looked up as a wall of mirrors suddenly came up out of nowhere, blocking their path.

            Fire let out an annoyed sigh. "Great. Looks like it's another one of his twisted mazes."

            "We can probably blast through it like we did last time," Maria responded as a bored expression came over her face. She aimed her Buster at one of the mirrors and fired. The orange energy sphere was sent careening for it, intent clear...only for the attack to suddenly be reflected back.

            Maria let out a yelp and ducked as her attack flew at her, allowing for the blast to fly over her without doing any damage to either her or Fire. "That was...unexpected." She straightened back up. "Looks like fire energy is pretty much useless."

            "I think that any long-range weapon would be useless," Fire noted. "We've got to smash the mirrors, and who knows what is hiding behind them."

            There was the sound of giggling from behind the mirrors in front of the two fire users.

            Maria deactivated her Buster, then clenched her fists in front of her. "Guess we'll have to go for fisticuffs, then."

            "And you're prepped for that?" Fire's statement caused the Reploid to look over at him.

            "Fire manipulation doesn't stop at throwing spheres and melting robots when I'm angered," Maria stated with a slight smile. "There's more to me than meets the eye in that regard." She turned back to facing the mirrors, and after a minute charged forward, her fists becoming cloaked in flames that licked up her arms.

            "Fire Punch!" Maria called, slamming her fists into two mirrors in front of her as she came close enough to them to come into contact. The flames licked the mirrors as they came off her hands, causing the glass to warp and crack as the fire faded with its heat. A moment later, both mirrors shattered.

            Fire blinked in surprise upon seeing this. "How is that possible? I can't even attack without having at least one of my cannons operational!"

            "That's how it worked before I got turned into a Reploid, and it's how I'm going to keep working until something happens to me that changes that," Maria responded matter-of-factly. "Now, come on - we don't have all day, do we?"

            The Robot Master was shaken out of his surprise rather quickly. "Right. GeminiMan will only make this harder for us. If we can keep moving, there is a chance that we can beat some of the reinforcements and slip past them without their notice." He promptly strode into the opening Maria had created, the Reploid following close behind as they entered the maze of mirrors.

            **Time Break**

            Maria let out a growl as she stomped out of the mirror maze, her armor covered in scratches. "That had more surprises than I'd care to run into again."

            "Agreed," Fire stated as he came out behind her. His armor carried various scratches, as well, and there was a scorch mark on his back - most likely from where a bomb had exploded. "Wily seems to be becoming more crazed by the hour, stuffing all those enemies in such a small enclosure."

            "I think he was crazy enough in the first game," Maria muttered under her breath as she stopped, looking around at the ruined road ahead of them. Unfortunately, this was heard by FireMan.

            "Game?" the Robot Master repeated, giving Maria an incredulous look. "What do you mean?"

            Maria's eyes widened, and a sheepish expression came over her face. "It's nothing you should be too worried about."

            "No, I think I should be." Fire walked around to stand in front of the Reploid. "This is about what you said you had seen in your world, isn't it? This is how you knew about us in the first place."

            Maria's expression became even more sheepish, and she rubbed the back of her head as her gaze moved away from Fire's. "Yeah, it is." She looked back at the Robot Master. "But my brothers know more about you guys than I do. My knowledge is pretty limited, at best, and what I'd heard about Wily made me think that he was...pretty much insane right from the get-go. Only now, he's gotten worse."

            "Much worse," Fire agreed. He scrutinized Maria for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You do realize that you're going to have to tell the rest of us how much you know about us."

            The Reploid nodded. "Yeah. Problem is, this world has some differences from the one I saw, and I don't know how much of an effect that's going to have on the future. It's going to be pretty interesting, comparing notes." She peered around the Robot Master. "We'll have to do that later, though. It looks like we've got company."

            Fire turned around and instantly saw what Maria meant: a small horde of seemingly-crystallized Metts that were colored sky blue was sitting in front of them, blocking the road. In the distance, he could see a giant blue crystal palace - no doubt where GeminiMan was hiding.

            "Looks like it's a last stand," Fire noted, turning around completely and bringing back out his fire cannons as Maria moved to stand next to him. "Are you prepared to shatter these things, Maria?"

            The Reploid gained a thoughtful expression, then a rather surprisingly eager grin, her right hand morphing into her buster. Already, the weapons system for it had changed to a different power source - the Metts looked a lot like diamonds, and she was getting the feeling that a fire-based attack might not do her any good at this point. "Oh, I'm more than ready." Upon saying this, she aimed the cannon at one of the Metts and fired.

            A blast of blue energy came out of the Buster, managing to freeze up a couple of the Metts as the rest of them lowered themselves in order to avoid any sort of shrapnel or ricochet effect. The Reploid then continued this, managing to freeze up most of the front line before momentarily running out of energy.

            Fire blinked in surprise upon seeing the frozen Metts, then turned slightly and gave Maria a curious look.

            "Well, don't just stand there!" Maria exclaimed in reply to his questioning gaze. "Shatter them! The ice will weaken them, but it'll hold them there for only so long."

            Fire's surprised look turned into a determined one, a slight smirk showing up from behind the mask he work over his mouth. Giving a nod, he turned and set his flamethrower on the Metts, the extreme heat coming in contact with the extreme cold and causing the ice to shatter. Maria then started to work on the next row of Metts while Fire tried to find another way that could defeat the crystallized robots without having to rely on Maria for most of it.

            The Robot Master let out a roar and slammed into a frozen Mett, sending the ice cube sliding along the ground and into the small figures behind it. To his surprise, the first Mett that was hit almost instantly shattered, and the other behind it became heavily damaged. A look of surprise appeared on Fire's face, but it quickly turned into one of understanding, and he started to push into the other ice cubes, causing the same thing to occur. Maria, catching sight of this, grinned and started to push a couple Mett-cubes as well, more than happy to have an alternate to running her energy down by shooting every single Mett in sight.

            It took some work, but the two managed to get the Metts removed from their path without being damaged any further than they already had been from Snake and the mirror maze they had previously encountered.

            Maria straightened up as she pushed a Mett-cube into the last unfrozen robot, then slammed a fist down onto the brick, causing it and the robot within to shatter. Fire managed to finish off his in the same manner.

            "Well, that finished them off," Maria noted, clapping her hands together in a wiping manner as though she was trying to get some dust off. The Reploid looked ahead at the crystalline castle in the distance. "G-Man really went all out with his fortress." She looked over at Fire. "Do you know if he has any sort of obsession with jewels?"

            "He might," Fire replied with a shrug. "They have reflective properties; I would find it highly likely that he would want them around for some sort of advantage in battle."

            "Meaning that we'll have to watch our backs," Maria noted. She looked over at Fire. "Well, we'd better get going. No use keeping him waiting."

            "Agreed." The two turned and dashed for the Crystal Fortress, leaving the crystalline wreckage from the Metts behind.


	10. Crystal Fortress

            Maria let out a yelp and ducked as a Crystal Mett was suddenly thrown at her, then she glared at the figure who had thrown it at her, her crouch shifting so that she could lunge at the cannon, using her momentum and added strength as a Reploid to crush the mechanical construct. Nearby, Fire took out an identical weapon.

            The two had been going through Gemini's "little castle" for some time now, and it was obvious that the entire place had been created as a challenge for any intruders. Unfortunately, Maria hadn't seen anything that could work as a secret passage that led to Gemini's location. The only thing that could have been that was a balcony walkway above them, and neither the Reploid or the Robot Master could have reached it in any way - they didn't have a unit like Rock had Rush to fly up there, meaning that it was absolutely impossible to get up there.

            "If we just had jet boosters or something," Maria muttered under her breath. She shook her head and continued on, the crystals on the floor crunching under her feet.

            "Our systems would have to be completely rerouted," Fire responded. "That kind of havoc is not one that I would want inflicted on our systems at this point." He jumped on a cannon that had been shooting spike-covered spheres, then started to fire - literally - on more crystal Metts that were coming their way.

            "That's not the way to go around it," Maria stated playfully. She saw that there was another round of Metts coming her way, and she promptly jumped on their helmets, crushing them underneath her. "Wow, I can see why Sonic has so much fun jumping on Badniks. Gemini could have picked better materials, though."

            "Sonic?" Fire gave her a curious look as the two came to a stop. "Another friend from another world?"

            Maria nodded. "Yeah - he made it a point to stop a crazy doctor from taking over the world for a reason."

            "Sounds like Rock."

            "Only difference is that Sonic's an anthropomorphic hedgehog who can in at the speed of sound." Maria smirked at the look of surprise Fire gave her. "Truly. I'll fill you guys in later, if you want to know more." She looked ahead and started forward again, taking note that the path was clear to the next chamber in the castle. "How long have we been wandering around in this place?"

            Fire looked ahead, his eyes going over the crystal doorway ahead of them. "I believe that, considering how ornate that door looks, Gemini is going to be on the other side." He looked back at Maria. "Are you prepared for this? Gemini is a tough opponent, according to what Rock told to us."

            Maria rolled her eyes and gave Fire a bored look. "I've faced a horde of bat-like monsters and creatures as large as this building and still survived. I doubt that a mirror-oriented Robot Master is going to cause me too much trouble." She turned to face the doorway ahead of them and started forward, a confident air about her and a determined look on her face. "Come on - we don't have all day to hang around."

            "Right." Fire quickly moved forward, falling into step next to the Reploid. "As there are two of us, we should be able to take care of Gemini's doubling ability. One of us can concentrate on the double, while the other deals with the real deal."

            "But the question is, who will get whom?" Maria asked, stopping in front of the door.

            "We'll figure it out soon enough," Fire responded. He motioned to the door with his head, the flame on top of his head flickering in response to the movement. "Are you going to do the honors?"

            Maria blinked, looking bemused for a moment before understanding came over her features. "Oh! Yeah, sure." She looked over at the door and pushed on it, only to pull back sharply when the door moved upward, crystal shards falling to the floor with tinkling noises that sounded like icicles breaking. "We didn't get to do this last time I was sent on a mission like this."

            "The only time you were sent out for a mission was 'something like this'," Fire responded.

            "Yeah, well, Elec ended up blowing through a wall in order to get to Air's location," Maria retorted as she stepped forward into the corridor that was behind the door. "Blues took the direct route, and when we got to this point, the doors had been blown out - most likely by him."

            "That certainly sounds like him," Fire noted as they came to the door at the end of the corridor, which was as ornately carved as the first door - specifically, it had GeminiMan's face on it in a knowing, confident sneer. "As this shows GeminiMan is as narcissic as he was when Rock first found him."

            Upon hearing the word "narcissic," Maria's form stiffened slightly, and something about the word and the look on Gemini's face seemed to click. Unfortunately, she was unable to tell where such a connection might have been made before, because the thought ended there.

            The Reploid was quick to shake the thought out of her head, and she promptly slammed down on the spot where the Wilybot would have had a nose. The face promptly crumbled, and the door slid up again, revealing another open chamber that was about as long as Air's "Boss Stage" chamber, but it was shaped in a rectangular form instead of circular. At the opposite end of the chamber, was a large, ornate throne that clearly looked like it was built for something bigger than the Robot Master that was sitting in it.

            Gemini's form perked up from a bored position as the door slammed shut behind Fire and Maria. "Well! Guests!" He leapt off the throne, landing lightly on the floor as Maria and Fire walked forward.

            "At least it will be better company than myself," the Robot Master continued, motioning as another form of himself flickered into existence from out of nowhere.

            "Like you're much of a conversationalist," the copy retorted.

            "Oh, shut up."

            Maria raised an eyebrow at seeing the two Geminis glare at each other. "Why Wily didn't make an actual twin for you, I have no clue."

            "He probably knew he would rely too much on light refractions to need one," Fire muttered in response. He looked over at the Wilybot and his copy, who had started to bicker about who was more annoying. "Are you going to surrender to us without a fight?"

            One of the Geminis let out a laugh. "With a reward on the line for brining in your fiery friend? No thanks!" He pointed at Maria with his left hand, his twin mimicking his movements while the modified Buster materialized on his right arm. "Maybe I'll get something extra for bringing in your head, Lightbot!"

            Maria got into a slight crouch, her hands twitching as the became covered in flames. She suddenly wished that she had access to an actual blade to use against them. "Fire, you take the one on the left. I'll take the one on the right."

            "Got it," Fire responded. He then dashed at the Gemini standing to the left (we will refer to him as Terox, for no particular reason), while Maria practically leapt at the Gemini on the right (let's refer to him as Gemnix).

            Gemnix let out a yelp as Maria barreled into him, and he tried to fire his Gemini laser at her, only for the Reploid to grab his weapon and increase the temperature of the fire, causing the weapon to partially melt and spark as a result.

            Gemnix let out a yelp and pulled his right arm back, only to swing it at Maria's head and clock her with the damaged Laser.

            The Reploid let out a grunt and stumbled back, rubbing her head in the spot she had been hit before letting out a feral growl and jumping at Gemnix again, the fire on her hands morphing into claws which Maria promptly used to slash at the Wilybot, who stepped back before getting hit with an uppercut from both claws.

            "Gah!" Gemnix stumbled back, looking down at the scorch marks that were now tracked on his form. He looked back at Maria, blinking upon seeing that she was still in a stance that clearly meant she was prepared to lunge at him again.

            "What are you?!" Gemnix demanded, looking at the Reploid with wide eyes.

            "Your worst nightmare," Maria growled in response. She took a couple steps forward, only for the Wilybot to flicker before disappearing in a blast of light. Nearby, Fire let out a yelp before getting blasted back into a wall by a Gemini Laser blast.

            "You are no ordinary Robot Master," Terox (now we go back to Gemini) muttered, turning to look at Maria as Fire fell to his knees in the background. "Dr. Light doesn't create weapons with that much power."

            "I'm not a weapon; I'm a person," Maria responded stiffly, cracking her knuckles as she kept moving from foot to foot. "My naturally-given abilities are a bonus."

            "Naturally-" Gemini cut himself off, his eyes narrowing as his face gained a dark scowl. "That's impossible. No Robot Master has a naturally-obtained ability."

            "I'm not a Robot Master," Maria hissed. "I'm a Reploid. There's a difference."

            "Oh? Then maybe you can face me alone." Gemini snapped his fingers, and multiple versions of himself appeared - enough to form a circle around Maria, all of them grinning wickedly.

            Maria's gaze went around the group, which aimed their Lasers at her and started to charge them up, the intent clear.

            However, there was grim intent clear on the Reploid's face, as well.

            Maria let out a sigh, then closed her eyes and concentrated. Instantly, she felt her core temperature rising, and a grim smile came over her face when she knew that things would turn out well. For her, at least.

            "White...Flare!" Maria threw her arms out, and her powers reacted instantly, fiery white tendrils lashing out and hitting every single Gemini copy that was surrounding her, causing them to be lifted up as the fire burned through them, causing electricity to spark off as circuits were damaged. One by one, the Gemini copies were burned out, leaving the original to take the brunt of the remains of the attack.

            When Maria was sure that Gemini had been thoroughly incapacitated, she dropped the attack and dropped to her knees as the Wilybot collapsed. The Reploid quickly gained message warnings regarding low energy and possible shutdown to conserve energy, but she waved them away; she had survived before from this.

            "What was that?!" Fire demanded, shocked as he dashed over to Maria and helped her up. "It looked like some sort of fire storm!"

            "It's called White Flare," Maria responded calmly, breathing heavily. She looked over at the fire that burned on top of the Robot Master's head as she continued, "Like I said back at base when we first met, I only use it as a last resort." She looked over at Gemini, who hadn't moved since he had dropped. "Think Gemini's out of it?"

            "After that?" Fire shook his head. "I doubt it." His eyes widened slightly. "We need to get out of here. Gemini's probably going to blow soon."

            "I'm going to slow you down," Maria warned, still leaning against the Robot Master. She blinked for a moment, then added quickly, "If you blast me with you fire, though, you could give me a boost that could last until we get out of here."

            The Lightbot gave Maria an incredulous look. "Are you serious?"

            "Yeah - I can absorb fire and use it to my advantage." Maria quickly looked over at Gemini's form, which had started to spark. "Are you going to do it or not?"

            Fire looked over at Gemini quickly, then back at Maria. After a moment, he nodded. Aiming his right cannon at the Reploid, he fired.

            **Spacial Break**

            Wily was watching the camera that was connected to Gemini's prone form when the Reploid was bathed in fire.

            "What is that stupid Lightbot doing?" the scientist muttered as he connected two cables together. "He's going to destroy his-"

            Wily let out a squawk as the robot who called herself a Reploid seemed to become stronger as soon as the flames licked her armor.

            "Some sort of power converter?" he asked nervously, his mustache visibly drooping. "HeatMan is not going to do well against her..." He slammed the computer console. "If only I had the sound system working with this!"

            Static resounded from a different, smaller console. _::Dr. Wily! This is Enker. My fellow MegaMan Killers and I have found one of the Lightbots you wanted captured. We're bringing him into base now::_

            "Excellent, Enker!" Wily responded with a cackle. He looked over at the main computer console again, taking note of the two different scenes that the screen showed: two robotic figures, each standing higher than where the camera was located. "Now, to get the attention of the other two, as it's certainly obvious who I have now..." He pressed a green button on the main console, causing the two different scenes to blacken and show two different perspectives: above the four intruders...

            **Spacial Break**

            _::Well, well, if it isn't Tom's new pet project and his favorite robotic son!::_

            Maria looked up sharply, catching sight of a monitor being kept up in the air by something that looked like the top of a helicopter. The screen was shown to have a small screen (in the bottom left) that showed a surprised Elec and angered Rock, while most of it was taken up by the face of an old man with gray hair that clearly looked like bat ears, his mustache matching the strange design.

            "Wily!" Maria snarled in response, clenching her fists. Fire's energy was flowing through her circuits, and she felt energized, but she knew that it wasn't going to last for long. "What do you want, you bat-eared freak?"

 _::Bat-eared-::_ A scowl came over Wily's face. _::How dare you! Do you have no respect for someone of my level of intelligence?::_

            "Not when they use it for sinister purposes," Maria growled in response. "What do you want, anyway? Let us have time to gloat about taking out more of your little minions?" A slightly sadistic smirk made its way onto her face. "Because I could do that."

            Wily scowled. _::I am not going to give you time to gloat, robot::_

            "That's Reploid, you Bat-eared freak. How many times to I have to tell you guys?"

            _::Fine, fine::_ Wily made a careless waving motion. _::I contacted you personally to tell you that you might want to recount your friends when you arrive home::_ The mad scientist wagged a finger at the group that was glaring up at him.

            _::What are you talking about?::_ Rock asked, taking a step forward and raising a clenched right fist.

            "We haven't lost anyone," Fire added. "The only groups that were sent out were us."

            Maria frowned, her mind running through a few things that had happened over the last few days. When she reached the point that involved events right before the groups left, she froze.

            "Bass and Proto," the Reploid muttered.

            "What?" Fire gave her a curious look. "What do you mean?"

            "They left, too, didn't they?" Maria looked up at Wily with a hateful look, only to get a sneer of confirmation from the old scientist.

            _::I had no use for the rebel::_ Wily stated, carelessly waving a hand at the screen. _::The other, however, might still be of use to me::_

_::If you harm my brother in any way, I'm gonna-::_

_::You're going to what, little robot?::_ Wily sneered at Rock. _::If I recall correctly, you're not allowed to harm humans::_

            Maria's eyes narrowed, only for them to widen a moment later when she realized something.

            "He may be bound by those laws, but I'm not," Maria stated, stepping forward as she placed a hand to her chest, getting the attention of those on the monitors. "If Rock can't pull through with his threat, I can. And I promise that you're going to end up shaped like a pretzel if you hurt Proto." She pointed an accusing finger at the mad scientist, who's eyes had widened in alarm.

            _::Tom must be getting crazy in his old age::_ Wily muttered, looking at something out of the screen. He quickly returned his glare to Maria, who continued to glare back with the same intensity. _::I was really hoping to come after you, but seeing as you're as tenacious as Rock, I'm glad that I have a little more time to prepare for your arrival::_ Wily grinned maliciously. _::If you want to rescue your friend, you're going to have to come to my place. You have two days before I reprogram your friend and set him to self-destruct the moment he next runs into you::_ Wily let out a loud laugh.

            _::You monster!::_ Rock yelled.

            _::Oh, shut up::_ Wily waved away their glares with a careless hand, but he still looked somewhat nervous - most likely because of Maria and her ever-present glare and the threat she had made. _::If you don't want to have ProtoMan die on you, send FireWoman-::_

            "That's Maria, Bat Ears!"

            _::Whatever! Just send her to me in exchange for the prototype, and you can have him back in one piece, no damage::_

            Maria and Fire exchanged looks upon hearing this. Their eyes were wide, but they quickly narrowed.

            Glaring at the screen again, Maria growled, "You want some sort of exchange? New for old? Sorry, buddy, but I'm not going to stand for that. If we're going to get Proto back, it'll be our way, not yours." Raising her right fist, she stated, "I say that on my free will as a former human."

            Wily blinked, his eyes widening upon hearing what Maria had said, he then shook his head, his eyes narrowing. _::You are very impudent for one of Light's creations, as well as rather insane yourself. When I catch you, you're definitely getting reprogrammed::_

Maria stiffened upon hearing this, her eyes narrowing into slits. "You're out of line to suggest that. I'm not going to have you poking around in my head, and you're not going to get into Proto's." She pointed an accusing finger at the mad scientist, then turned to look at Fire. "Let's move. Light's got to know about this."

            Fire nodded in agreement, his eyes still a little wide from when he had heard Maria's earlier statement. "ProtoMan is going to need to be rescued," he murmured quietly.

            "And no matter what, we're going to get him back," Maria responded calmly with a nod. She then turned and started to walk out of the chamber.

            _::Hey!::_ Wily barked. _::I didn't say you could go!::_

            "I've heard all that I need to hear from you," Maria responded shortly. "And I'm not staying to hear you try and argue with me about whether I should be acting this way or not." She looked over her shoulder and glared at the flying monitor. "I was human before MetalMan destroyed my last chance of living a relatively normal life. Now I'm a Reploid. Deal with it." With that, she turned and walked out of the chamber, stopping in the corridor and leaning against the wall.

            A moment later, Fire dashed in. "Gemini's set to blow in five minutes - and this entire fortress with him. We have to get out of here."

            Maria gave the Robot Master a dark look, then gave a silent nod and started to run along the corridor towards the door on the other side.

            "What's burning you?" Fire asked as he caught up with her at the end of the corridor. Finding a set of stairs that they hadn't seen beforehand, the two climbed up them, ending up on the catwalk that they had seen on their way through the fortress.

            "Wily. Need I say more?" Maria looked over at Fire, as a countdown was started in her head and started to tick.

            "It might be a good idea if you get it out of your systems," Fire responded.

            Maria let out an annoyed sigh. "He's too crazy for his own good. And kidnapping Proto --" The Reploid let out a growl. "He's playing with us, because he knows there's sentiment attached - especially considering that he's the first of you guys."

            Fire nodded slightly. "He's been a big brother to all of us." He was about to say something else, but the entire crystal palace started to shake as explosions started somewhere behind them.

            Maria looked back quickly as she stumbled a little, grabbing the railing of the catwalk to keep herself from falling off. Sending a surprised look at Fire, it morphed into a determined one, and she stated, "We have to move. Now."

            "I couldn't agree more." Fire gave a nod as Maria got away from the railing, regaining her bearings in the now-chasing chamber. The two then took off down the catwalk as crystalline light fixtures started to fall on the path behind them...

            **Spacial Break**

            Wily slammed down on the console as he watched the groups disappear from his sight. All that work, going through capturing the original prototype who had been a thorn in his side for years, and they didn't want to hand over the new one in exchange?

            Light had definitely become stubborn over the years, if they were this intent on rescuing him.

            The mad scientist turned to face his project. Despite the fact that his main project was taking up most of his time, this one was coming together much more quickly because of the easy build, as well as his experience in such matters.

            "All that's needed now is the final stubborn piece," Wily muttered. He sent a glare at the now dark computer screen behind him, seeing as the monitors had been destroyed in the explosions he had set off in both of the Wilybot's lairs. "I haven't seen a personality like that in one of Tom's robots before..." He frowned. "And what was that about being a former human? Eh." He waved off the thought. "Must be something in her programming that I'll have to correct later."

            The lab door swished open, and Wily looked over, catching sight of Enker standing in the entrance with a neutral expression.

            "Break has been causing a few disruptions from within his cell," the MegaMan Killer reported. "Despite the fact that we had his shield taken away, the teleport interference field up, and his Buster neutralized, he still insists on attempting to destroy his cell and antagonizing the guard."

            "The guard being...?"

            "QuickMan, Master."

            Wily let out a low growl and gave Enker an annoyed look. "Replace him with a Sniper Joe that won't talk back or be at all hindered by the prototype's yelling." When Enker nodded, the mad scientist added, "and make sure that the fortress is well defended. I have a feeling that we will be getting visitors soon."

            "Punk and Ballade are already on it."

            Wily nodded in approval. "Good. Make sure he stays on it until the threat is out of the way." He then made a waving motion that clearly meant the MMK was dismissed, causing Enker to bow and back away, the door closing tightly behind him.

            Wily turned to face his present project, a smirk working his way across his face before it turned into a sneer. "If things work out as I plan that they will, especially with Punk involved with the defenses...I should have my...'Reploid' before two days are up!" He promptly stated to maniacally laugh, holding his arms out and throwing his head back as he looked at the ceiling of his lab.

            Meanwhile, in another corner of his lab, within a strangely translucent capsule that lay at a nearly-horizontal angle, an incomplete figure was stirring in response to the laughter...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like Hinting At Things -- like the figure in Wily's lab at the end there. I bet some harder-core MegaMan fans can guess who that is. The last of Wily's creations...


	11. A rescue plan....

"So, Blues has been taken hostage," Dr. Light muttered as he paced.

            "That's right, Dad," Rock replied, still in his armor. "And he wants Maria in exchange for him."

            "An act that I'm not going to want to get into," Maria stated gruffly, arms across her chest. "He's probably going to want to poke around in my head and do who knows what else."

            "While I admire you for being able to know what Wily might be planning on doing with you, there is still the problem that we need to get Blues back before Wily goes good on his word," Dr. Light responded as he stopped his pacing.

            "Then what are we going to do?" Roll asked, a worried expression on her face.

            The group was standing in the security hub of the entire building - the one place that Blues had been known to hang out in when he wasn't running through training courses of his own design or out on raids. It seemed to Maria, now, that Blues was actually more paranoid than the rest of the Robot Masters - most likely because of events in his past involving a malfunctioning power core and the personality that came out of it. Dr. Light had brought Maria, Rock, and Roll there after hearing about the situation concerning Blues' capture from a recovering Bass and the two returning raid pairs.

            From what Maria had gathered, Bass had attempted to sneak out with Gospel when the other groups were getting ready to leave. Blues had caught him, and after trying to talk some sense into him, decided that it might actually be a good idea to take the rebellious robot out for a raid - leaving the wolf-dog behind.

            Then they had run into the MegaMan Killers, also known as Enker, Punk, and Ballade. The trio managed to overpower Bass and Blues, leaving the former to spill out his oil on the pavement while they dragged the latter away to who-knew-where. Shadow managed to find Bass after bringing Snake in, having heard that he wasn't anywhere on base.

            "Well, we can't just stand around and wait for something to happen," Rock stated, pulling Maria out of her reverie. "We've got to come up with a plan to bring Blues back without losing Maria to Wily."

            The Reploid nodded in agreement. "Wily said that Blues was being kept in his fortress, which I'm guessing you guys probably have a location for."

            Dr. Light nodded. "Yes, we have it on file. A few scouting missions run by PharaohMan and ShadowMan managed to reveal its specific location." He pressed a few keys on a nearby console, bringing up a map of the area Wily had affected. There was a big pulsing red dot in one corner of the mad scientist's territory, surrounded by smaller, green dots. In almost the opposite corner, a large pulsing blue dot dignified their base's position. "It's the furthest away from us, however, and I doubt that a direct assault will prove to be fruitful at this point."

            "We've already taken out three of his sub-bosses," Maria pointed out, motioning to the map. Her statement was shown there - three of the green dots were flickering with a more plain, white glow than their neighbors. "We could sneak through those territories in order to get closer, couldn't we?"

            "He's probably got a lot of robots in those locations," Rock noted. "Wily would probably try to seal those holes up more tightly than they had been originally."

            "But that would leave the other locations weaker than they had been..." Maria trailed off when she realized something else, and she slapped her self in the forehead with a groan. "If all of his bases weren't doubling as robot factories."

            "Of which you have already destroyed three," Dr. Light reminded. He had a glint in his eye that looked like he was most likely getting onto something. "Which means that either the others are overloading themselves creating more than usual, or he has them madly working at rebuilding the destroyed structures."

            "Good luck with Gemini's," Maria noted dryly. "That thing was so fragile, one explosion from his self destruct sequence caused the whole thing to crash. It's just a pile of giant crystal shards, now."

            "As Fire noted," Dr. Light responded, looking over a written report that had been tossed onto the console. "However, Wily will still be able to put out some sort of temporary building that could house and build robots, which would be weaker than a normal factory."

            Maria gave Dr. Light a curious look. "Are you suggesting we take a route that takes us by one of these weaker factories?"

            "It's a possibility," the roboticist replied, nodding slightly. "Although, there might be other routes that can prove to be more safe."

            A black portal appeared next to Maria, and Shadow stepped out.

            "I heard from Bass," he stated, raising a hand before anyone spoke. "I wanted to offer my services for a possible attack route to invade Wily's Fortress." He walked over to the map that was still up on the screen, then traced a route with a finger. "There is a string of alleyways that Wily has left untouched for one reason or another - mostly because they are dead ends."

            "Which could be used, when connected together, to form a path that could take us to where Wily is," Maria finished, catching on quickly.

            "Are they connected by underground passages?" Rock asked. "The sewer system?"

            "If they were, Wily would have had a Robot Master in charge of a group that watched over the passage," Shadow responded. "As it was, he had a Robot Master patrolling the area for almost a month after I had left. It stopped only recently." He sent a sidelong glance at Maria.

            The Reploid blinked in confusion upon seeing the look she was getting, only for her eyes to widen a moment later. "The alleyway that I arrived in when I got here...that must have been part of the route! And taking out MetalMan not long after I got there-"

            "He was the guard that was set there," Shadow stated, nodding. "And, because you managed to destroy him without too much trouble, that leaves our path open and the only enemies we might face to be Sniper Joes and Metts." He looked over at Dr. Light. "Which means that this route might be our best bet at reaching Wily's Fortress and rescuing Blues."

            Rock and Roll both gave Dr. Light pleading looks, and Maria gave the roboticist a curious look that bordered on impatience. Shadow simply watched with a neutral expression.

            Dr. Light looked over each of them, considering the options that had been suggested during the conversation. His eyes went over to the map, for a moment before returning to the other members of the small group that were standing there in the room.

            "All right, Shadow," he finally stated. "We'll try things your way. Get the Robot Masters together and meet me in the lab we've been using as a medical bay in two hours. They're going to need to hear this, and the ones we've liberated from Albert might be able to tell us a few things about what we might expect from what we're planning on doing."

            Shadow gave a slight nod, then was gone in a flash of black.

            "And you three," Dr. Light continued, turning to look at Maria, Rock, and Roll, "Try to get reenergized before we meet up. There's going to be a lot of work to do."

            The three nodded, and Rock and Roll dashed out of the room. Maria started to follow them out at a more casual pace.

            "Maria. One more thing."

            The Reploid paused mid-step at the entrance, turning slightly so that she could look back at the roboticist. "What is it, Doc?"

            Dr. Light let out a sigh. "Fire and Elec told me what you'd told Wily about...your morals."

            Maria frowned, then turned around fully and walked back into the security hub. "You mean the threat I made to Wily?"

            "Yes, that." Light rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I didn't install the Three Laws because I thought that, as a human - former or present...you'd have some sense of right and wrong."

            "I do. But that doesn't mean I can't make bluffs that make me sound meaner than I am." Maria crossed her arms over her chest and leaned a little on her left leg in a slightly relaxed stance. "I wasn't _really_ going to turn Wily into a pretzel."

            "I didn't think that you would," Light responded quickly in a reassuring manner. "But, your statement makes me worry that some of my future creations - if they were created without the Three Laws - might do what you were suggesting." He took a slight step forward and continued, "You're aware of what could happen, right?"

            Maria frowned, then gave a slight nod. "Well, yeah. It's kind of a given, where I come from."

            "Can you tell me...if any of my creations would be capable of doing such horrors?"

            Maria frowned slightly, considering what Light was suggesting. He was asking her to go into the future and tell him what might occur concerning his future projects - no doubt, one project in particular.

            The question was, though...would he take it well?

            Maria let out a sigh. "In the future - perhaps a little over a century from now - there will come a time when wars will be started up again." She looked over at Light, whose color was starting to drain from his face. "One of your projects will rise up in order to help quell the rebellions that will occur. From what I have seen, he does not have the Three Laws."

            Light let out a sigh - whether from relief or an expected sorrow, the Reploid couldn't tell - and hung his head.

            "There's more." The roboticist looked up at her sharply. "When you created him, you sealed him away in order to test his mind to make sure he had the proper morals that kept him from destroying any humans out of anger or hatred. Like Rock, he hated the idea of fighting in general. But he will have to fight, as he is one of the few hopes that will keep the future alive." Maria gave Light a sad smile and shrugged her shoulders a little. "It seems that all of your creations are destined to assist in keeping the world in balance somehow."

            Light looked at the Reploid for a moment longer, then let out a sigh and shook his head, a sad smile coming across his own face. "It does seem that way, doesn't it?" He stepped over to the computer console, looking over the map for a moment longer before closing it out. "Is there...anything I can do to prepare the one that might end up in this...situation?"

            Maria frowned, thinking over what she had read about the games themselves and what she had seen her elder brother play when they had initially come out.

            "There's going to be something that's going to attack the systems of most robots in the future," she finally stated, looking down at the floor with a hesitant expression. "A virus, that, according to rumor, seems to originate from one of Wily's projects - perhaps something he's working on presently, or something in the coming days. It's going to cause those that are attacked by it to go berserk - to want to kill off those who don't think like they do, to...kill off humans so that they can create a new world." She looked back up at Light, who was still standing at the console, his hands on the dash, head hung low as the reality of the situation the Reploid was describing sunk in. "The project you're going to create has been proven to be immune to this virus. If you can find proof of its existence in this time, you can give him an antivirus that will protect him from its effects."

            Maria knew she had to be careful - already her processor was trying to get ahead of her and say the name of the project. If she was going to do that, the Reploid would have to find a way around it so that she wouldn't end up saying something she didn't mean to.

            "The project you're going to make is going to become the template for most Reploids in the future," Maria finally continued, causing Light to look at her in shock. "Whatever he is capable of is going to make him an unpredictable variable in the scheme of things."

            "There are going to be more Reploids in the future based off my work you're saying," Light stated. He placed his hand in his beard and started to stroke it thoughtfully, frowning as he went over what Maria had stated. "An unpredictable variable, hmmm?" A thoughtful look crossed over his face - no doubt that he was running calculations in his head as to how he was possibly going to construct a Reploid like the one Maria had just described.

            Unfortunately, the Reploid knew that he wasn't going to be able to do that for long.

            "You might want to write down what I've said and think it over later," Maria stated, getting the roboticist's attention. "We've got a fortress to invade and a friend to rescue."

            Light blinked, brought out of his thoughts by Maria's statement. A moment later, a determined look came over his face. "Right." He took off out of the room, leaving Maria behind.

            The Reploid shook her head and let other a chuckle. "Well, I guess I'd better get moving, too." She promptly strode out of the room herself, a calm smile on her face, but a gleam in her eye that made her seem more dangerous than she appeared. "Things to be done, energy to be recharged...and a robot to rescue."

            **Time Break**

            "You're asking for advice to break into Dad's base?" Sword asked in surprise, his eyes wide.

            "That's a lot to ask," Snake noted thoughtfully. He looked over at Fire's torch-laden head with a somewhat hungry expression, which Maria took note of. "He keeps security up pretty tight around there."

            "If either of you two know anything about holes that Wily could not be seeing?" Maria asked, her hands twitching as small embers flickered in and out of sight.

            "Wily does not handle security," Sword stated grimly. "The Killers do."

            Rock let out a groan. "Great."

            "Killers?" Maria frowned slightly. "As in...the MegaMan Killers?"

            "That's them," Snake confirmed. "Enker works as his right-hand 'bot, and Punk and Ballade handle the rest."

            "That makes security pretty tight, then," Maria noted. "Which will make it all the more challenging in order to slip in."

            "You sound like you're eager to take this on," Roll stated, a suspicious look on her face and in her voice.

            "I've faced a lot of challenges before," the Reploid responded dismissively. "This one won't be any different... Not counting the fact that it'll be my first time going into a place this tight."

            The members of the group looked at each other, considering what Maria had stated.

            "How much has this kid been through?" Snake asked, looking at Light as he pointed at Maria. "Where have you been hiding her?"

            "I've been hiding myself," Maria replied calmly. "Name's Maria White. I make a point of jumping from world to world in order to help out where I can."

            "World Jumping?" Sword cocked his head slightly. "Interesting. That explains you calm air about being here, and in your present form no less."

            "World Jumping," Maria murmured, rolling the words off her tongue. "That's got a nice ring to it." She blinked, then shook her head. "Right. Wily. Shadow's suggested route is probably the only one that is working for us right now."

            "Seeing as Metal is no longer patrolling the area," Snake remarked. He noticed that the embers that were on Maria's hands were resolutely remaining there, and he gave her a pleading look.

            Maria smirked upon seeing that. "Yeah. My fault for that. Did the same thing to Gemini, too, but I was concentrating on his doubles as well as him, so he took less damage." She looked back at Dr. Light. "Depending on how things are going to turn out, I may have to light up the area with a White Flare if things start going downhill."

            "I want to be there to see that!" Most of the group that wasn't already standing behind him looked back at where Bass lay on a lab table nearby. His legs' circuitry was exposed, as Light had been working on repairing the damage done when the group had arrived.

            "Not in that state," Roll responded with a shake of her head. "Dad and I are going to make sure that you don't go running off half-repaired like that."

            Bass let out a snort and waved her off dismissively. "Whatever."

            "No, you're staying here," Elec stated. "Your recklessness caused Blues to -"

            "As if! They knocked me down from out of nowhere!"

            "As you've recounted before," Bomb noted dryly.

            "Guys, we can settle this later," Rock stated quickly. "We've got a brother to save, remember?"

            Light nodded in agreement. "We'll need to split up into teams again for what I have in mind. Two teams will be going up through the areas that were formerly controlled by GeminiMan and AirMan, and one team will be taking Shadow's route to the base."

            "Because we're going to need a distraction of some sort to spread them thin," Maria stated, nodding.

            "Yes and no," Light responded. "Yes, we can spread them thin, but I intend for the teams to get to Wily's Fortress and all assist in getting Blues out. As for the teams, the ones who will be traveling with Shadow will be Rock and Maria-"

            "Why those two?" Bass piped up. "They should be out trashin' Metts in the other two teams, not slinking around like a pair of weaklings!"

            "If we go out there, the teams are going to get a lot more Metts to deal with," Rock pointed out. "We're more of a threat in Wily's eyes than you guys are - especially considering what Maria was already capable of before she got here." He looked over at the Reploid, who nodded slightly, a smirk coming over her face.

            "I would be more than capable of holding my own for a little while, but I can be overwhelmed," Maria stated."It's happened a couple times already in one other world, and I don't plan on it happening again." She looked over at Light. "So, who are on the other teams?"

            "Sword will be working with Elec, Cut, and Bomb, and Snake will go with Fire, Guts, and Ice," Light listed. "Oil and Time will stay behind in order to make sure that we aren't attacked by any of Wily's robots while the rest of you are gone."

            "Of course," Time said with a nod.

            Oil simply let out a groan as his form sagged; it was obvious that he had been hoping to get out and see some action.

            "When are we heading out?" Maria asked, grinning in anticipation for what they were about to set into motion. The flames on her hands started to increase in strength, and she sent a little over to Snake, who shivered with pleasure as his energy levels suddenly shot up right before the flames disappeared.

            "Tonight," the roboticist replied, a serious glint in his eyes. "We shouldn't wait for much longer; Albert has kept his word before, but considering how he's been acting lately, he could go back on his word." He turned, looking at each of those present in turn. "I'd suggest giving yourselves a full hour to prepare so that we can make sure that nothing goes wrong."

            "Right," Rock agreed, giving a nod. He looked at the rest of those present, then slipped out of the room. Others began to file out, as well.

            Maria remained until she was the last fully-functional robotic figure left in the room, then turned to look at Bass, who had been watching everything with a disgruntled look. "Light's probably going to be working on you while we're gone. It won't be long before you're out and about with the rest of us."

            Bass snorted. "Yeah, sure. After the stunt I pulled? I'm going to be stuck in here until the end of the war." He turned away and glared at the wall at the other side of the room, clearly wanting to be alone.

            Maria took note of this, turned, and left.


	12. ...is set into motion

            Maria jumped out of the dark portal after Rock had slipped out, the Reploid landing on both feet with an oddly soft clang. Shadow was quick to follow, the portal closing up behind him.

            "We do not have much further," Shadow stated softly. He pointed across the street - lit by a single lamppost - at the alley on the other side. "Through that alley there, and then into the entrance of the Fortress."

            Maria nodded slightly. "Right." She moved to the end of the alley and started to look around, scanning for any sort of Wilybot that might have been patrolling the area.

            Other than the strange circle of metal that was on the pavement, there was no one in sight.

            When Maria saw the circle of metal, she felt her circuits freeze up a little. She turned slightly and looked back at the two with her. "This is where MetalMan got melted." The Reploid pointed ahead to the circle of metal.

            Shadow nodded slightly. "No doubt this area will have more enemies than the last." He walked towards the end of the alley and looked out himself. "Look." The Wilybot pointed at a figure hiding on the other side of the lamppost, staying in the shadows.

            "Looks like a Sniper," Rock noted, frowning slightly.

            "Great. Another one," Maria grunted. They had already run into a few of them at the last couple of alleys, which the Reploid had only taken as a sign that they were getting closer to their destination. "I'd try to snipe him from this distance, but that shield's going to be problematic."

            "Why don't you sneak in close and snipe him from behind?" Rock suggested.

            "Yes," Shadow agreed. "Use the Light Refractor. It will be very easy here, as there is very little light."

            Maria blinked, then nodded slightly. "Yeah - that could work. Just give me a second." She forced herself to relax, seeming to release whatever stress she had through a release of air. A moment later, her form flickered a little, and she completely disappeared.

            When Maria had disappeared from sight, she turned her attention to the Sniper across the street. Stepping lightly, the Reploid made her way across the street, evading the circle of artificial light as she approached the Sniper stationed there. Her hands flickered as she brought up her core temperature and let out the energy through her hands, right before she grabbed the Sniper Joe and throttled him from behind. The lights had gone from the robot's eyes before it hit the ground.

            Maria flickered back into view as the other two ran over.

            "What was that?" Rock asked. "It looked like he was choking."

            "I throttled him," Maria responded. "Usually knocks people out, but when added with a fiery grip and used on a robot, disconnects vital circuits and stops it from working." The Reploid shrugged. "Best way to keep to from yelling and alerting anyone nearby." She looked over at the alleyway, which lay in shadow. "We'd better keep moving."

            "Agreed," Shadow stated with a slight nod. He moved forward and disappeared into the shadows, a portal appearing in his wake. Rock and Maria promptly dashed forward and jumped in, disappearing into the shadowy realm.

            "You are not taking this seriously," Shadow noted as he glanced back at Maria as e opened another portal. "Perhaps you don't know what you're getting into?"

            "Oh, I do," Maria responded, stepping out into the next alley. "It's just that I have an odd way of showing it." She looked directly at the two and spoke again in a low voice. "I've been through enough to know when to be serious and when not to be. And I've found that acting like I'm nowhere near the danger zone can make those I'm going against to lose their temper and act more reckless." A smirk came over her face. "It's worked on a few of those who live in other worlds, and I've seen it work here on a few people, too. Wily's reaction is a good example of that." The Reploid turned to face the exit of the alley. "When we get inside, you'll probably get to see my more serious side."

            Shadow and Rock exchanged glances, having taken note of the grim tone in Maria's voice.

            "How close are we?" Maria asked in a lighter tone, giving the two a smile.

            Shadow blinked, taking note of the sudden change in attitude. Eventually, he nodded slowly. "We are close." He moved ahead and looked around for a possible sentry that had been placed nearby. "One more portal jump should get us inside."

            Maria nodded slightly, then moved forward, sneaking a look out into the street. "What kind of portal-" She looked over to her left. "Oh. Pretty short portal jump."

There was a large, barbed-wire fence laced with electricity in front of a large, forbidding fortress that had a large skull over the entrance.

            "I guess," Rock agreed, coming up and taking note of how close they were. He looked over at Shadow. "Are we going to jump here?"

            Shadow shook his head. "No. See those cameras at the tops of the fence posts?" He pointed at the black boxes - which were, luckily, not pointed in their direction. "They're built to be able to detect when someone sneaks through my shadowzone without proper clearance from Wily. As I left him, he's revoked my clearance. We're going to have to find a place where it is easier to sneak by."

            "But the MegaMan Killers are keeping security pretty tight," Maria noted, frowning. "How are we going to find a place if they're making sure that we can't sneak in?"

            "I find one of his power generators and shut it down," the ninja replied simply. "Stay here." He started to walk along the fence, fading in and out of sight whenever a camera seemed to swing his way.

            Maria and Rock exchanged glances as Shadow disappeared from sight. Then there was the sound of something on the roof of one of the nearby buildings, and the two looked up...catching sight of an entire group of Sniper Joes, glaring down at them.

            The surprised gaze that had been on Maria's face became a deadpan expression. "Great. Looks like we're not going to be without some sort of trouble." She cracked her knuckles and got into a defensive stance, prepared to attack when the enemies did.

            "If they know that we were here," Rock muttered, "Then Wily-"

            "There's still a chance that he doesn't," Maria stated quickly in a serious tone. "They could have been patrolling and heard us talking and decided to investigate." She brought out her Buster and aimed it carefully at one of the Snipers, taking a moment before firing, only for the shot to bounce of the shield it carried. "We need to lure them down here somehow...or try something else."

            Rock gave Maria a curious look as she started to back up, her Buster still trained on the robots standing above them. "What are you-"

            He got his answer when Maria fired off a yellow shot from her Buster, sparking with electricity that branched out as it approached one of the Snipers. A moment later, electricity sparked most of the Snipers, causing them to lose their balance and fall to the ground in front of Maria and Rock, getting up unsteadily a moment later, the extra electricity sparking off.

            Rock blinked, but then brought out his own Buster and aimed it at a few of the Snipers. "Got a plan?"

            Instead of answering, Maria flickered out of sight, and her heat signature suddenly dropped. Almost instantly, one of the Snipers started to freeze up, ice forming over its joints.

            _::What are you waiting for?::_ Maria demanded over the mental comlink. _::Try to blast the ones that I'm stunning!::_

            Rock blinked, bemused for a moment, then gained a determined look and started to blast the Snipers that Maria was freezing as the shot resounded and ice appeared. The Snipers were soon taken down.

            Maria's form flickered into sight as the last Sniper was taken down. The look on her face was a serious, dark one, her shoulders moving up and down like she was panting heavily. The Reploid's form soon stilled, however, and a dark smirk came across her face.

            "A good workout," she finally stated, the dark look on her face lifting. "I'd consider myself warmed up for what we're going to be facing in there."

            "You consider that warming up?" Rock asked, frowning. "That's..." He blinked and shook his head. "Wow. There's definitely a lot more to you than any of us could ever expect."

            "As has been proved time and time again," Maria replied with a playful smirk.

            The electrical hum from the fence suddenly died, causing Maria to look out of the alley. Upon seeing that the cameras had dropped, the red recording lights having died, the Reploid grinned. "Way to go, Shadow." She waved for Rock to come out, and stepped out into the street as a portal appeared.

            "The power generator is down," the ninja stated calmly as he came out. "We have a limited amount of time before the backup is turned on. Let's go."

            Maria and Rock both nodded, then walked into the portal...stepping out on the other side of the fence.

            "Why did you take us directly into the fortress?" Maria asked, looking around and frowning.

            "Wily has that under a separate system, and it's even tighter than entering and exiting. If I were to take us directly to, say, ProtoMan's location, all of the fortress would come bearing down on us." Shadow motioned to the towering building ahead of them. "We will have to continue on foot and destroy any opposition that may come in our way."

            "If we don't find a way to avoid them," Maria replied. She started forward, away from the fence as she started to look around. "Is there a side entrance we might be able to take in order to avoid any sort of ambush that might be waiting for us at the main one?"

            Shadow blinked for a moment, then nodded. "This way." He motioned for the two to follow him as he took off at a jog, the Reploid and Rock following close behind.

            "Why is it that I never thought of that?" Rock muttered to himself as they jogged around the building.

            "You probably thought it was more polite to go through the front," Maria responded. Her gaze went over the courtyard as they went, her eyes narrowing slightly. "What I find odd is that there isn't anyone out here that might be patrolling. There's no way that any section of the building would be left unsupervised."

            "They might have been counting on the cameras for that," Shadow supplied.

            Maria frowned, then came to a stop and shook her head. "No. Snake said that the Killers were in charge of security. They probably know that we've got you on our side, so there should be sentries walking around. Something isn't right."

            "Well, well, looks like we've got some intruders!" The group looked up sharply at the fortress, catching sight of a red robot with spikes on his shoulders.

            "Punk!" Rock identified, getting into a slightly defensive stance.

            "I knew that there was going to be some difficulty getting in," Maria muttered. She glared up at the figure, who was looking down at all of them with a haughty sneer in his eyes. "Your name fits, kid." She cracked her knuckles and got int a stance of her own. "How about you come down here so I can test you?"

            Punk snorted. "As if! Wily showed us what happens when 'bots get on your bad side. I'm not coming down there to turn out like Metal." He motioned to something behind him, and a moment later, a large number of Sniper Joes and Metts appeared out of nowhere. "Instead, they will. Get her!"

            Maria was blasting the first row of robots with ice shots before they were even off the roof. The rest of them simply crashed through their comrades as they tried to get off the roof, but the Reploid continued to fire. Rock soon joined with his Buster, and Shadow threw out one of his ninja stars, slicing the more vital cables in multiple Snipers' necks.

            Punk let out a growl when one of Maria's shots got him in the right arm as Rock took down the last Sniper, causing the joint to become encased in ice. "Why you little -" He cut himself off with another growl. "No. Master said I couldn't face you here. Not now. You're lucky that I'm not going to."

            "Oh, really?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow as she placed her left hand on her hip.

            "Yes, really!" Punk snapped in reply. "And there's more where this came from. Let's see how you can handle it on the inside." With a short laugh, the MM Killer backed up and disappeared from sight.

            "Well," Maria finally stated after a moment. "He's certainly full of himself."

            "Comes from being based off a rebellious version of music," Shadow muttered in response. "Come. The entrance is not too much further." He turned and started along the wall again, Maria and Rock following close behind, only to stop a moment later in front of a small door.

            "This is it?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow.

            "Did you expect something more?" Shadow responded, looking at Maria curiously.

            "I probably shouldn't have, but..." Maria let out a short blast of air and rubbed the back of her head, a sheepish expression on her face. "It kinda felt anti-climatic for a side door."

            "If you wanted something extravagant, enter from the front." Shadow kicked the door open, then motioned inside. "We must move, and quickly."

            Rock nodded. "Right." He dashed inside, Maria and Shadow following close behind.

            "Do you think you could lead us directly to where Proto might be kept?" Rock asked as they dashed through the corridor they had entered upon getting into the base.

            "It is possible," Shadow responded, glancing back. He turned to face the corridor ahead as he continued, "but there is a chance that Wily has redesigned the innards of the base simply because I left."

            "You left of your own volition?" Maria asked, frowning slightly.

            "I was not created by Dr. Wily. My creators are much more ancient and knowledgeable than he. As such, there were parts of my programming he was unable to decipher. Parts that allowed me to bypass and delete whatever he may have added."

            The Reploid's eyes widened, and a look of understanding came over her features as she smirked. "Nice. Think he ever figured it out?"

            "It is possible. However, he did not do anything about it, and I will make sure that he will not." The ninja robot suddenly came to a stop, holding out an arm in order to keep Maria and Rock from running past him. "Now we see Wily's work."

            Maria looked past the Robot Master and saw instantly what he meant, her eyes widening as she took in what was going on in front of them. "This place looks like a large factory."

            The large chamber in front of them had conveyer belts in the middle of the air, moving from furnaces through machines and to a door at the opposite end of the chamber. Below, there was a large amount of scrap metal that made for a tough place to land if one fell. Robots with helicopter propellers lifted up large chunks of metal and dropped them in the furnaces, were they came out as melted piles of glowing orange. By the end of the conveyer belts, they were dangerous-looking Snipers with spikes on their heads and on their shields - obviously, the original design had been added to.

            Unfortunately, the little robots that were moving the metal weren't the only robots in the area - there were upgraded Snipers patrolling the area, obviously prepared to take out anyone who wasn't supposed to be in the area.

            "Was this a part of the original design?" Rock asked, looking over at Shadow. "I know you left pretty recently, so if any upgrades were added -"

            "No." Shadow shook his head. "This was not a part of what he had planned. This area," he motioned to the scene with a sweep of his arm, "was supposed to be where we stored the remains of those who had fallen - where we took the Metts and Sniper Joes you Lightbots destroyed. If it has been remade into a factory, that means Wily has lost many and is preparing for something big."

            "Think he's going to go after Light with an army this big?" Maria asked, worry evident in her tone.

            "I find it highly likely."

            The three started to make their way along the wall, watching in case anyone decided to try and go after them and bring the entire fortress down on their heads. Maria made it a point to try and scan the area to see if there were any passages that might end up leading somewhere that they might want - or need - to go. She also poked around a little with the other options for sight, including infrared and x-ray, getting a good look at what the Snipers' armor might truly be capable of defending them against.

            "How deep into the fortress were the holding cells the last time you were here?" Maria asked Shadow, giving the back of the ninja's head a curious look.

            Shadow glanced back. "The holding cells were designed to be near the center of the base, where Wily's living quarters and lab were located, as well as the recharge stations for the Robot Masters. They were placed there so that Wily would have easy access to prisoners so that he could experiment on them and use them to create new types of robots - or reprogram them to assist him in fighting Dr. Light."

            "I take it that they haven't really been used recently, then," Rock noted. "No counting ProtoMan."

            Shadow nodded slightly. "Correct. When I left, the cells were collecting dust."

            A loud alarm suddenly went off, causing the three to stop in their tracks.

            _::Attention all units! We're going to need more help out on the front lines against the Lightbots! Go, go, go!::_

            "Who is that?" Maria asked, looking around as the voice continued to repeat its statement.

            "Ballade," Rock noted. "He must be in charge of the mass number of robots that serve Wily."

            "Indeed," Shadow confirmed. "This may work in our favor - the robots who are working here are being sent out - the base may become deserted."

            _::And if you manage to find the three intruders who snuck in, an extra gallon from the E-Tanks reservoir is yours!::_

            "Looks like you spoke too soon," Maria muttered under her breath. "We're going to be getting a lot of attention in a few seconds." She started to dash ahead, the path they were taking coming close to the other end of the chamber, where it was revealed that a large passageway as tall as the furnaces was located.

            "They will most likely be coming from there," Shadow called out, causing the Reploid to stop. "There may be another way to get deeper inside the base without being noticed."

            "What?" Maria asked. She looked impatient to move, hopping from one form to the other. "We don't have much time, here!"

            "I am aware of that," Shadow replied calmly. He looked across the chamber, then pointed at a corridor that was across the great expanse. "There."

            "Across the conveyer belts?" Rock asked, sounding skeptical. "That could be a little dangerous."

            "So long as we avoid the piles of melted metal and whatever those other machines are," Maria responded, motioning to the items in question. "Those flying robots could prove to be a little trouble, too, though..."

            "Those I'm not worried about - I'm worried about getting smushed before we can rescue my brother," Rock stated.

            "You've been able to get past worse situations before - I'm sure you're going to be fine," Maria stated calmly. She looked over at the nearest conveyer belt - which was a jump away - then back at Shadow. "Are we going to work across that way? Or are we taking the long way round?"

            "We are going to have to take this way, if we are to not be trampled by the robots that are most certainly coming," Shadow replied. He promptly jumped onto the conveyer belt and started to make his way across the chamber.

            Rock let out an annoyed sigh, looked over at Maria, shrugged, and then followed, leaving the Reploid to consider how she was going to get across.

            "It's just jumping," Maria muttered under her breath. "You've faced a lot worse than this - going against Rourke on a hot air balloon, going through the Rocket base..." Steeling herself, she jumped forward, landing next to a pile of melted metal just as it came out of the furnace. "Just have to time it right."

            The heat from the metal she was standing to the left of gave her a small energy boost, causing the Reploid to smirk before she started to jump across the gaps between the conveyer belts with relative ease. The melted piles she landed near gave her a boost as she sucked the hear from them, allowing her to keep up her energy without too much difficulty.

            A few minutes later, she was on the other side with Shadow, watching as Rock carefully finished off his trip.

            "How in the world did you get so much speed?" Rock asked as soon as he got to the other side. "Your form isn't made for it!"

            "You know how those piles of melted metal are releasing heat?" Maria asked with a smirk. When Rock nodded, she explained, "When I was a Vulpix, I gained the ability to absorb fire in order to make me stronger. Anything that releases heat can also make me stronger, as well. Hence my speed boost."

            "That would certainly be useful against HeatMan," Shadow noted. He looked over at the doorway they were standing by. "Come. We must move if we are to avoid the oncoming horde." He disappeared into the doorway.

            Maria nodded in agreement. "Right." She slipped into the corridor after the ninja, Rock following close behind...just as a rumbling was heard from one of the adjoining corridors. Mere seconds later, a large crowd of Snipers and Metts of various sizes and shapes dashed past them without even looking over to see that the intruders were right under their noses.

            "That's a lot of robots," Rock noted, blinking as the last few creatures slipped by and out of sight.

            "It's obvious that Wily's been busy," Maria stated darkly. She looked ahead, taking note that the corridor was hidden in shadows. "Think we ought to go this way, Shadow?"

            The robot ninja looked into the corridor, a slight frown coming over his face as he scanned the darkness that was disguising what lay on the other side. "Yes," he finally stated. "This may be the route that takes us directly to ProtoMan's location."

            "May be?" Rock asked, frowning. "Where would it take us to if it didn't take us to him?"

            "Most likely one of the living quarters of the Robot Masters who still yet live here," Shadow responded coolly. "I do not doubt that, if we do find one, he will be taken down easily."

            "Depending on who it is," Rock pointed out. "HeatMan won't be too much of a problem, if Maria can just leech off him and I can weaken him with BubbleMan's copied attack. But the others..." He shook his head. "They might be more difficult to deal with."

            "Well, there's only one way to find out whether or not we're going to end up facing any one of them," Maria responded. She motioned to the darkened corridor with an elaborate gesture. "Shall we?"

            Shadow gave a slight nod in response, then started forward into the blackness, Rock and Maria following close behind.

            "Do you think Proto's going to be damaged when we get to him?" Maria asked, looking over at Shadow with a curious expression.

            "I expect that his Buster would have been forcefully neutralized," the ninja replied. "Wily knows that ProtoMan is not going to say anything unless he wishes to, so I doubt that he has been tortured in any way."

            Rock let out a sigh. "That's good. We could still be able to get out of here as fast as how we got in."

            "Depending on whether or not those robots don't find us first," Maria noted grimly. She had started to slip into her more serious persona, considering that they were close to their goal and there was still the chance of an ambush from another Robot Master. "And when we get Proto, alarms are probably going to be set off all over the place and get a whole lot more attention than what we have now."

            "Correct," Shadow murmured. "We will have to use the teleportation system installed in ProtoMan."

            "Teleportation?" Maria frowned slightly.

            "A part of ProtoMan's systems that was still in beta testing," Rock explained. "He can teleport in and out to wherever he wants, but not when he's contained within an interference field. The rest of us didn't get that added to us when we were made - Dad created a separate circuit of teleporters that we could use - but if we're nowhere near one, we can rely on ProtoMan to get us out of a sticky situation."

            "I take it that it wasn't added to the rest of you because Dr. Light though it might have been part of the situation at caused Proto to malfunction and deviate from his original programming."

            Rock nodded.

            "Wily did manage to perfect the system," Shadow spoke up. "But when he came across me, he switched to using the shadowzone I had access to."

            Up ahead in the corridor, the shadows started to recede as the next section of the base they were approaching became brighter - obviously, it was one of the more well-used areas of the base.

            Maria's systems started to send warning messages to her; the infrared scans she had initiated had picked up multiple energy signatures up ahead.

            "If Proto's up ahead, he's got company," Maria stated grimly.

            Rock looked over at her curiously, but then noticing the serious look on the Reploid's face, gained a determined look himself and activated his Buster, prepared for what might be coming. Shadow didn't visibly pull out his weapons, but Maria couldn't help but get the feeling that the ninja robot was more than ready for anything they might be facing.

            Slowly, the group stated to pick up pace, then burst through the end of the corridor and into the next chamber: a circular, white chamber that looked like it had taken some design elements from Gemini's crystalline castle.

            Except for the monstrous-looking Sniper Joes and Mega-Metts that surrounded them.

            Maria let out a growl as she looked around at the foes, her core temperature starting to rise as she prepared to fight. "Great. Looks like we walked right into a trap."

            "Indeed you did." A yellow, blue, and gray-armored figure appeared on a balcony above where the three stood. A smirk was clearly there on his face, and he looked calm, his spear held loosely in his right hand.

            "Enker!" Rock identified, looking up at the MM Killer with child-like surprise.

            "Who'd you expect? AstroMan?" Enker shook his head, then looked over the three. "Shadow. The Master going to be glad to hear that you're back. He's been planning how to work around your programming for a while now."

            "He will not rewrite what and who I am," Shadow replied boldly. "No one can, and no one will."

            "Bold words for one who was tricked by Ra Moon into working for him." Enker turned his gaze to Maria as Shadow's form stiffened; it was obvious that he was planning on attacking Enker the moment had had a chance. "And you. FireWoman."

            "I told your boss already, bub," Maria growled in response. "It's Maria. Remember it."

            Enker blinked, slight surprise coming over his face. "A human name? That's a new one." His face quickly went to a dark sneer. "The Master's got big plans for you, Maria. I'm looking forward to watching them go through."

            "In your dreams," Maria scoffed in response. She glared at the Killer. "I'm not going to be swayed so easily, you walking junk heap."

            Rock's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing the Reploid say such a thing so flippantly. Enker's eyes, however, narrowed into slits.

            "You're going to pay for that," Enker growled. He lifted up a foot and slammed it down on the balcony, causing a loud click to resound throughout the entire chamber.

            A mere moment later, the floor gave out from underneath Maria, and she fell down into a shaft with a yelp of surprise, Rock's cry of alarm growing fainted by the second.

            Before Maria could do anything to even slow her fall, her rear landed on a hard surface and she was knocked out from behind with an electric charge.


	13. Wily's plan revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's were the mind control tag comes into play. Maria is...not immune.
> 
> Also, the characters listed as Sonic and Pokemon are coming into play here in a bit.

            Maria's systems came online one at a time, her motor functions being first, then the pain sensors, which warned her of a backlash of something in her head, resulting in a headache, not to mention the strange feeling she had back there that there was something attached. When she realized that she couldn't move her limbs very far when she tried to reach up to her head, the rest of her systems came online rather quickly, her eyes snapping open last.

            Where the Reploid found herself did not look like a good place to be.

            Maria was suspended vertically in a cylindrical glass chamber, held up not by liquid or cables, but by some sort of anti-grav vacuum that was obviously artificially created, keeping her from touching the ground with so much as the tips of her boots. A pair of energy-made rings were wrapped around Maria's legs, stomach, and chest, keeping her arms close to her form and impairing her from trying to break out of her prison. Outside of the chamber, there was lab equipment thrown about a metallic room that looked quite sinister almost as if the owner liked the color black and skulls so much that he decided to decorate the walls and equipment with them.

            "Oh, good - you're awake," said a familiar voice. "I was beginning to wonder if I'd have to go through it without speaking with you face to face."

            Maria made a mental note of the loudspeaker located inside the chamber - as well as the microphone that was located beside it - before she turned her head, catching sight of a familiar figure who looked a lot more tired and maddened than he had the last time she had seen him.

            "Wily," Maria growled. "Where's Proto?"

            "He is no longer any of your concern," Wily replied with a dismissive gesture. "Or, at least, he won't be in a minute or two."

            "If you've hurt him, Bat Ears -"

            "My hair does not look like the wings of a flying rodent!" the mad scientist barked, glaring at the Reploid.

            "Say what you will, but you're still batty!" Maria grinned, glad to have gotten on Wily's nerves.

            Said mad scientist bristled and was about to fire a retort, but quickly regained his composure. "What am I doing arguing with a mere robot, anyway?" he muttered to himself, running a hand along the bald track on his head.

            Now it was Maria's turn to bristle. "That's Reploid! Major difference!"

            Wily snorted. "Whatever." He walked over to a nearby computer console as he continued, "However, you are right in a sense. You aren't just another one of Tom's dispensable creations." He flipped a switch, and the sound of something powering up was heard.

            "Dispensable?!" Maria could feel her core temperature rising, but she couldn't help but get the feeling that Wily might have prepared for a possible escape attempt from her and made sure that she couldn't get loose.

            A screen came down out of the ceiling, coming on as soon as it had clicked into place on the wall in front of Maria. There was static for a moment, but then it showed two pictures: Shadow and Rock running through a corridor, and Blues pacing in a cell, an obviously agitated Robot Master in red armor with what looked like a yellow boomerang sitting on the front of his helmet. Obviously, this was security camera footage.

            "You proved to be a very admirable foe when it came to fighting my Robot Masters," Wily stated, grinning. "When I watched AirMan's final moments, I thought that Tom had just stumbled upon the jackpot of all robots. And I wanted in." His grin became more malicious. "Getting ProtoMan was just the first step. When you came here in order to rescue him, it would have been only a matter of time before I managed to get the other two."

            "You were planning on going back on your word," Maria snarled, moving her glare from the screen. Already, the two videos had combined and Shadow had managed to pin QuickMan to a wall with a couple of his ninja stars. "That's the way it always is with you villains."

            "No, I was going to let him go," Wily stated quickly. "It's just that, with what I'm going to do to you, he would just get caught again." He grinned wickedly, an eager look in his eyes.

            Maria could feel chills going up and down her spine. Whatever he was planning, it wasn't good. And already, she was getting an idea of what he was planning on doing.

            "You're going to try and reprogram me, aren't you?" Maria growled darkly, glaring at the criminal genius.

            Wily grinned. "That's for me to know and for you to-"

            BANG!

            The door was suddenly kicked in, revealing an angry Blues, a serious Shadow, and a slightly confused-looking Rock who instantly gained a determined expression.

            "Stop where you are, Wily!" Blues barked, aiming his Buster at the mad scientist. "You're under arrest! Let Maria go and come quietly."

            Wily took one look at the prototype and laughed wickedly. "Did you really think that's going to work on me? After all these years?" He grinned and leaned against something on the console. "Oops. Too late."

            Almost instantly, Maria felt a presence that she did not want in her head, and it was doing things to her head that she did not want done. And it was _painful_.

            Painful enough to get her to scream out as she started to try and work against what was invading her systems. Already, the Reploid was working at blocking integral data from the program's access. Things like...what sort of effect the creations of the present would have on the future.

            "What have you done?!" Blues roared. He launched himself at Wily and started to shake him by gripping his shoulders while Rock and Shadow ran for the chamber and started to go over it to see if they could release Maria. "What is in the program you're sending her?!"

            "You know about it already!" Wily barked back. He looked angered, but in truth he was most likely terrified. Maria could hear his voice go high-pitched, even as her systems and screams started to make even more noise than that of the world outside her prison. "It's something that I managed to tweak to perfection!"

            "BAKA!" Shadow roared. "Your tweaking will destroy her!"

            "We've got to do something!" Rock exclaimed, panicked. He reached down and started to pull at the base of the chamber; Maria could barely feel her position in the air move, even though it was clear by her vision that she had suddenly dropped about an inch.

            "There is nothing you can do," the robot ninja replied grimly, grabbing Rock's shoulder and pulling him back. "It's...too late."

            Maria shut her eyes tightly as the pain increased; data ran across her vision as the program continued to invade her systems. Already, she was on the verge of completely losing control of her motor functions, and her vision and hearing were starting to get blurry and muted.

            "Get out of here!" the Reploid yelled as loudly as she dared. She could feel that her core temperature had exploded outward, encasing her in flames as though it was a last-ditch effort of defense.

            "Maria!" Rock exclaimed, worry clear in his voice.

            "Don't - grrrgh - worry about me! Tell the Doc what - argh - happened! Maybe..." Maria took in a breath, now starting to pant heavily. Her tongue started to feel heavy. "Maybe there's...a way to...get rid of it."

            Wily let out a laugh. "As if! The program is perfect!"

            "There are always flaws!" Maria roared in response. She could feel the darkness creeping in at the edge of her mind. "Proto! GO!"

            And with another, high-pitched shriek, she blacked out.

            **Change in POV**

            Blues watched warily as Maria let out a shriek, then the fire exploded out, destroying the glass chamber and sending it flying everywhere, forcing the Robot Master to shield his eyes from the blast of light - even with his visor, it was still extremely bright.

            Wily let out a yelp and jumped back, avoiding the blast of heat and fire that came out before it dissipated suddenly. He lowered both of his arms from his face after a moment - he had peered out from between them to make sure that it was safe - and looked over at Maria. Shadow still sent occasional glares at him, but he was moving himself and Rock closer to Blues, in case something happened and they needed to be grouped together.

            The Reploid was standing on the base of the glass chamber - at least, what once had been a chamber - but it was obvious that she was deactivated, as he head was bowed and her arms were hanging limply at her sides.

            "Maria?" Rock asked softly, hesitantly.

            Her figure jolted at the sound of his voice, and her head came up...as Wily's emblem appeared on her chest: a yellow "W" in a yellow circle, accented from behind by sky blue. The Reploid's eyes snapped open a moment later, revealing not the blue eyes that the Robot Masters had seen often, but rather blank white, without emotion. Just like the rest of her face.

            Wily looked at her in surprise, then grinned wickedly, clapping his hands together like a delighted child who's just gotten a new toy - which, Blues noted bitterly, he had.

            "Maria!" the scientist called out in the most serious tone he could muster - which at that point, sounded pretty weak considering he also had an excited squeak in it. "Get rid of these intruders!" He pointed at the three Robot Masters grouped together in front of the Reploid.

            Maria didn't move - not at first. But almost ten seconds after Wily had relayed the order, she brought her arms up in a slow, jerky manner, holding her palms out to Blues, Shadow, and Rock. A moment later, she started firing Fire Spheres at the three.

            Luckily, Blues had already initiated the teleportation sequence, and the three were out of range before even one of the fiery balls could have made contact with them.

            **Time Break**

            "Blues! Rock! Shadow - what happened? Where's Maria?"

            The prototype looked at Dr. Light as the Robot Masters gathered around in the rec room; most still had scratches from having been out fighting, but one or two were carrying souvenirs - Fire had the head of HeatMan under one arm, most likely with all the data need for rebuilding and reprogramming inside, and Bomb was toying with one of the drills that CrashMan had worn instead of hands. All of them looked concerned or eager to hear a story, but when they saw the distraught look that was on Rock's face, all of their expressions turned to worry.

            "Wily..." Blues growled under his breath, looking down and clenching his fists. Looking back up, he stated, "He recovered the MCP."

            The Lightbots looked at each other, confused, while Snake and Sword gave Blues a look that clearly said they didn't believe him, wide eyes and all.

            "MCP?" Light repeated, frowning.

            "Short for Master Control Program," Shadow explained grimly. There was a fire burning in his eyes that looked like he was planning murder. "It was used by Ra Moon to ensure that those he chose would not disobey his orders."

            "And now Wily's somehow managed to revive it and rework it to his every whim," Blues stated. His voice had taken a dark aura, and the group present couldn't help but look at him with wide eyes of fear. Some had seen him get angry before - and others had borne the brunt of it - and they did not want to get in his way when he was in this kind of mood.

            "What..." Light cleared his throat, as though he didn't want to ask the question. "What does it do to a Robot Master?"

            "It wipes all free will from us," Shadow responded. "Makes it so that it is impossible to tell right from wrong without someone to issue orders. As Maria runs on a different system, her personality was wiped out, as well."

            Light's eyes widened, and he looked over at Blues with a worried expression. "Do you know if there's a way to get rid of it? Or if it was ever used on you?"

            "I was around when he started to use it, but I managed to slip out before he did it on me," Blues responded. "The only thing I'm aware of that would be considered a cure be tearing the victim apart and putting them back together." He nodded in the direction of HeatMan's head. "It worked before for them."

            Light blinked, thinking for a moment, then shook his head. "Maria is not a Robot Master, she's a Reploid - I don't know if I can do that to her."

            "She said there were always flaws."

            Everyone looked at Rock, who had finally spoken for the first time since they had returned - even if the sentence had been said quietly.

            "Maria said that?" Roll asked softly.

            Rock nodded. "There could be something that Wily overlooked - something we could use to our advantage."

            He looked up at Light, his voice gaining strength. "If we can find her again, we could find it and make it so that the program wouldn't affect her anymore - maybe even remove it."

            "There is going to be the problem that she'll probably kill us on sight," Bass grumbled under his breath.

            "There are always loopholes," Shadow responded grimly. His tone was so heavy that it sounded like a ten-ton weight might have been attached.

            "What is it?" Ice asked. "Is there something you know, Shadow?"

            The ninja nodded grimly, his eyes dark. "I was forced to download the program when I was created."

            There was silence around the room as everyone looked at Shadow with varying degrees of shock.

            "My creators...worked with Ra Moon...in the ancient past," Shadow stated. "In case I rebelled, they created it to keep me in line. But they never had to use it. This is why I was able to leave Wily so easily - that section of my programming nullified whatever changes Wily made, allowing me to bypass anything I did not want to do - and leave when I wished. When Wily started to slip away from sanity, I knew it was my time to move."

            The group exchanged glances, then looked back at Shadow.

            "Will you be willing to allow me to have a look at that section of your programming?" Light asked. "Perhaps I can create something that can nullify its effects on Maria."

            "In order for that to happen, we would need to know what Wily changed," Blues noted.

            "It is still worth a shot," Shadow responded, looking over at the Robot Master. He looked back at Light. "I am willing to let you go through my programming and the MCP. We must not allow Wily to have access to Maria for much longer."

            "Especially considering what she knows of us," Light agreed. Looking at the rest of the robots present, he stated, "I'm going to need some time alone with Shadow and whatever parts you may have salvaged from the self-destruct explosions enacted by Albert's Robot Masters. It may take some time before we can come up with a plan to bring Maria back, but it will happen. Until then, go and train, make a few raids on the outskirts of Albert's territory, but try not to get yourself in any danger that might put you in harm's way because of Maria. We don't know what she is completely capable of, but there is no doubt that she is capable of plenty of dangerous moves."

            The Robot Masters looked at each other, worried.

            "We're going to need to train a lot," Elec noted. "Ice, Fire, Cut, you're with me. We're running one of the training simulators at level Delta."

            Ice's eyes widened, and Fire looked like he was starting to pale as Cut started to shake violently. They exchanged nervous glances, then followed their fellow Lightbot out of the room and down one of the adjoining corridors.

            "I'll agree to that," Blues spoke up. "Bass, you take Guts, Sword, and Bomb. I'll take Oil, Snake, and Time and run a couple simulations at the same level."

            Bass grinned wickedly. "What not take it all the way up?" He turned to look at Guts, Sword, and Bomb, who didn't look like they liked the idea very much. "Come on! Level Omega isn't so bad."

            "Isn't so bad?" Bomb repeated, incredulous. "I can't even get past the fifth one before that!"

            "All the more reason to train," Blues responded, waving for his chosen partners to follow him. "I'm certain that Maria is beyond level Omega." With that, he walked out without another word, the Robot Masters who were following him looking terrified. Bass promptly led the ones he had chosen out of the rec room, as well.

Rock let out a sigh and started forward, heading for one of the corridors.

            "Rock, wait." The boy turned to look back at the roboticist. "I may need your help rebuilding HeatMan and CrashMan. Do you think that you, Roll, and Auto cold handle it?"

            Rock's face broke out in a wide grin. "Sure! I'd be more than happy to!" He grabbed HeatMan's head from where Fire had dropped it, then CrashMan's drill. "Come on, Roll! We've got work to do!"

            "Right!" Roll agreed nodding. She took off into the lab, her brother following close behind.

            **Spacial Break**

            It was the middle of the night when a figure woke up from a nightmare, breathing heavily and sweating under his fur. Whatever he had just seen, it wasn't something that he wanted to run into.

            And yet, something also told him that he was going to need to confront it. Someone was going to need his help.

            Quickly, the figure slipped out of his bed and made his way across the room to the door and slipped out, being careful to not disturb the lavender, fox-like creature that was lying on the floor as he went.

            Just as the figure was about to slip out, the creature sleepily raised its head. "Tails? Is something the matter?"

            The figure - now named - looked back at the fox-like creature on the floor. "I need to go talk to Kintobor. Something's come up."

            The creature looked suddenly interested. "What is it?" she asked, sounding eager to know, having a bit of concern in her voice as well.

            Tails let out a sigh, gripping the doorknob tightly as his two tails twitched. "I think Maria's in trouble. I'll fill you in later." With that, the Mobian slipped out and into the hall.

            He moved quickly down the hall and around the corner, coming across another door, marked with a face that had been painted in red - a sign that had been humorously placed there as a joke from someone's past by someone in the same building.

            "Kintobor?" Tails called, rapping on the door. "Something's come up."

            There was the sound of rustling on the other end, and the door opened up slightly, revealing a pair of glasses that glittered in the light from the hall.

            "What is it that you need to wake me up at roughly four in the morning for?" the figure asked gruffly.

            "Something's happening in another world near ours," Tails stated quickly. "Something on the Eggman level."

            The door was thrown open wide, revealing a man with long legs and a body that was shaped like an egg, wearing red and yellow pjs and a white nightcap over a bald head.

            "Don't tell me it's that spiky-haired human going after more kids," Julian Kintobor growled, his mustache twitching irritably.

            "It's not," Tails replied quickly with a shake of his head.

            "Then what's so bad about it that you need to wake me up?"

            "Maria's in trouble."

            Kintobor's form stiffened, the eyes behind the glasses widening. "Maria -" he leaned forward and looked at Tails with a slightly worried expression, his large orange mustache drooping slightly. "What did she get into?"

            "I'm not quite sure, but it involves robotics and some sort of...mind control program or something." Tails gave the Overlander a defiant and determined look. "We need to come up with a way to get to where she is and help her allies."

            Kintobor gained a thoughtful expression, then straightened to his full height again, thinking over the two-tailed fox's statement.

            "I believe there is a way that I can help with that," he finally stated confidently. "Let's move - quickly! And bring your Pokemon with you!" He took off down the hall in a few bounds and disappeared around a corner, leaving Tails behind with a slightly confused expression on his furry face.


	14. Testing Stages

Wily walked around the robot - no, Reploid, he remembered - that he had just added to his army of robots and Robot Masters. Her design was certainly Light-esque, but it was also more advanced than the robots that Tom had been using to fight him - which meant that Rock had most likely gained upgrades in order to keep up with the adjustment in technology.

            He had already uploaded a copy of her programming to his computer so that he could have a better look at it, and what he found there surprised him - the Reploid had been programmed in a much different style than he had expected. Sure, Tom's signature was there, but only for a small portion of it. The rest? It was all a complete mystery.

            Wily couldn't help but wonder if this Reploid was in any way like Shadow and would break free of his control any second. However, considering that she wasn't moving as he walked around her, and had yet to speak of her own volition...she wouldn't be breaking free anytime soon.

            He decided to ask the Reploid directly as to who had created her. It took a moment before he remembered that she had an actual name, though.

            "Maria," the mad scientist finally spoke. "Who created you?"

            The Reploid didn't respond immediately, but she soon turned her head to look at Wily directly - he had been standing to her left at the time - and after a moment, she answered.

            **_"*Katie and Morgen Carlsdale*"_**

            Wily forcefully suppressed a shudder at the sound of the emotionless, monotonous voice. This wasn't what had happened to Robot Masters when Ra Moon had used this on them. Obviously, something about the Reploid's programming had reacted with the MCP badly. What, though, and why, were still unexplainable.

            "Carlsdale..." Wily frowned, going through the list of known roboticists he had in his head, trying to match up the names with those he knew about. When he found no connections, his frown deepened. Maybe they were up-and-coming inventors?

            "Where were you made?" Wily asked, hoping that he might be able to locate the lab in order to figure out more about the Reploid's programming.

            Maria rattled off the address of a hospital that Wily didn't recognize (he didn't see why it was a hospital rather than a lab), then added, **_"*On another version of Earth*"_**

            That got Wily's attention.

            "Another version of Earth?" the mad scientist repeated thoughtfully. "You mean like...an entirely different dimension?"

**_"*Correct, Master*"_ **

            Wily's eyes widened as his mind started to run quickly, thinking up different possibilities. She had traveled here from an alternate dimension. If he had been the one to create her and send her out, he would have made sure that she would be able to come back or be picked up by someone from her world.

            "How did you get here?" Wily asked, resuming his walk around the Reploid. "I thought alternate dimensions weren't meant to interact."

            **_"*Creation of portals and using the Lanes Between is not unprecedented*"_**

            "Portals? Lanes Between?" Wily frowned and scratched his head. "Your creators created a portal maker and used pre-determined routes in order to get you here?"

**_"*Incorrect. I create the portals. I use the Lanes Between*"_ **

            Wily stiffened a little, stopping to Maria's right, looking at the Reploid in surprise. "You can create portals?"

            **_"*Correct, Master*"_**

            A rather evil grin came over the mad scientist's face. "I want to visit your home world. Create a portal and send me there."

            Maria started to move smoothly, raising her arms up, only for her movements to become jerky again and slow to a stop.

            **_"*Insufficient data. Passcode and coordinates required*"_**

Wily let out a growl and slammed down on a nearby console. The loud noise should have cause the Reploid to flinch from its suddenness, but not even her fingers twitched. "Passcode, my foot! I'm your master! I command you to open up a portal to your home world! NOW!"

            **_"*Insufficient data. Passcode and coordinates required*"_**

Wily let out a frustrated roar. "What do you want me to say, then?! That I want to see a fellow roboticist working on some top secret project?!"

            Maria looked sharply at the mad scientist, causing him to flinch a little upon seeing the blank stare.

            Suddenly, there was the sound of something activating behind him, and the mad scientist turned slowly in order to see what it was that had turned on.

            His eyes became the sizes of saucers when he saw what it was.

            A large blue portal had appeared behind him, a little taller than he was and a good enough width to let two figures walk through it side by side. Slowly, it cleared up, revealing two figures standing in what looked like a lab, only it was much brighter with yellow and red paint on the walls.

            Wily took a step forward, holding his hand out in order to test to see if he could actually step through, he let out a quiet growl when his hand came across a glass-like substance that prevented him from going any further, forcing him to observe what was going on inside the lab.

            While it was interesting to see that there was technology within the lab that he recognized (and also found alien), it wasn't that which got his complete attention: two figures were sitting in front of a large computer, looking over data while conversing. The mad scientist didn't get a good look at the data, because the two figures were blocking his view. What confused him, though, was that a creature that looked like a two-tailed fox wearing gloves and sneakers would be able to converse with a rather obtuse human concerning what goes on in computer codes!

            "...and if anything is in there that isn't supposed to be, we can-"

            "Hold on, Tails." The man raised a hand, then glanced back. Wily's eyes widened when he caught sight of the large orange mustache and dark glasses the man wore, but he was more interested in the fact that the man had four fingers instead of the usual five. "It seems we have someone watching us."

            Tails turned his head, his blue eyes carrying a curiosity in them that also had a slight hint of fear, causing Wily to wonder what the creature was afraid of. When the fox-like creature saw Wily, his eyes widened.

            "Who are you?" Tails demanded turning around fully and walking forward a few steps. He looked ready to fight, even though (as Wily noted) he also seemed to be extremely young. "How did you manage to -" The creature stopped himself short, his eyes widening. "Kintobor! Maria's with him!"

            "What?" The man - Kintobor - came forward, looking into the portal curiously. After a moment, there was a slight hiss as he took in a breath through his teeth. "You were right about one thing, Tails - Maria may be in trouble."

            Wily didn't like the looks that the two were giving him. Turning around, he barked, "Close it! Now!"

            The response was immediate: the portal closed in a bright flash right on the heels of Wily's order.

            The mad scientist looked over at the Reploid with a slightly curious expression that soon turned into a frown.

            "There's more to you than what I once thought," Wily noted, approaching Maria cautiously. "You've been finding ways to resist me, haven't you?"

            The Reploid didn't answer.

            Wily let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine, then. Don't tell me." He turned to face the console, continuing while waving his left hand carelessly. "Go into standby while I look over your programming. There must be something I can do in order to figure you out and get you to tell me more."  

            **Spacial Break**

            A box-shaped Robot Master colored in red and yellow let out a yelp and ducked, avoiding a blast of ice that was careening at his head. He then jumped back up and, forming a fire ball in his hands, sent it blasting back at his opponent: a holographic form of Maria.

            The holoform-Reploid smirked and absorbed the oncoming blast, then sent back a larger blast of fire than HeatMan could have seen coming.

            Rock jumped in front of the Wilybot and blasted the holoform-Reploid with a stream of bubbles - a technique he had copied from BubbleMan.

            "Remember, she can absorb any attacks with a fire element, so it won't be of any use to try and fight her, Heat!" Rock told the box-shaped Robot Master.

            "Listen, the MCP got used on her, and like it or not, I'm gonna help rescue her!" Heat barked in reply, stomping a foot out of anger. This caused the lid of his box-like form to fall on top of his head, resulting in a rather annoyed, "Hey!"

            Rock let out a sigh, then made a motion with his left hand. Maria, who had been charging up a Buster shot, disappeared in a shower of sparks as their battlefield - what looked like the remains of the city outside - faded into the white walls and ceiling that marked the place as a training room. "Heat, you could be helpful in holding off some of the more less intelligent ones, but you're not going to be of any help against Maria if she can absorb fire and use its energy as a boost for her own power."

            Heat threw the top of the box off, letting it settle into place sticking out of his back on the other end of the hinge that kept it in place. "You can't blame me for tryin', can ya?"

            Rock let out an annoyed sigh, taking a mental note that HeatMan was starting to sound more like a gangster from the 1930 historical vids. He supposed it might have been in the Wilybot's original programming, but he couldn't help but find it a tad annoying.

            "No, I can't blame you," Rock responded. "But...just stay away from Maria, all right?"

            "All righ', all righ'."

            The door slid open, and Roll dashed into the room, looking excited and like she was about to burst from it.

            "What is it, sis?" Rock asked, looking at Roll in surprise. "You look like you just heard that someone beat Wily and rescued Maria."

            "Not quite, but it's close enough!" Roll responded. She motioned for Rock and Heat to follow her. "Come on!"

            She then turned and dashed out, leaving the two who had been training to look at each other in confusion.

            "We'd better go see what's what," Heat finally stated. He strolled over to the door, Rock following close behind.

            **Time Break**

Rock came skidding to a stop as he and Heat arrived in the security hub, having followed Roll through the rec room. He looked a little flustered, but whatever frustrating questions he had in his mouth soon died on his lips when he saw who was in the room with Dr. Light, Shadow, Ice, and Elec.

            "What...?" Rock blinked in confusion as he looked at the two unfamiliar figures. "Who are you two?"

            "I'm Miles Prower, but you can call me Tails," a yellow, two-tailed anthropomorphic fox stated.

            "And I am Julian Kintobor," the tall, egg-shaped man added. "We're friends of Maria's."

            Roll turned and gave Rock an excited look. "They said they heard about what happened to Maria - and they can help get her back!"

            "Really?" Rock's eyes widened, and he looked over at the two newcomers. "How?"

            "Some time ago, I had a bit of a nightmare involving something that had happened to Maria," Tails explained. "I told Kintobor about it, and we decided to look into something that could help. When a portal opened up right in our lab and showed us a human in lab gear with Maria, we knew there was something wrong."

            "Wily had her open up a portal?" Rock asked, surprised.

            "It's something she can do in order to travel from world to world," Kintobor explained. "We used the portal signature to send ourselves here, but unfortunately, it was a one-way trip. Maria will have to be the one to send us back."

            "That may be a little difficult, given the current circumstances," Light voiced. "If you can assist me in finishing off a program that may be able to neutralize what was done to your friend, will you be able to assist us in finding her?"

            Tails grinned, then pulled a belt out of nowhere, on which a red and white sphere, a black sphere, and a black and yellow sphere had been fixated. Kintobor motioned to his left wrist, where a blue and white sphere and a red and white sphere and been fixated.

            "We made sure to come prepared," the two-tailed fox stated, "and we could both throw something together for a little extra firepower if need be."

            "Thanks to our knowledge of robotics from our world, we might be able to fix you all with a few upgrades," Kintobor added.

            "That would be useful," Elec spoke up. "As Maria is running on an entirely new system, it would be good to get up to her level."

            Tails blinked, looking bemused for a moment. A frown came over his face a moment later. "This has got something to do with the armor she was wearing, doesn't it?"

            "Unfortunately," Light confirmed. "Maria ran into some trouble when she initially arrived here. Rock found her in critical condition, and the only option that would have saved her life was to transfer her into the shell of a new type of robot that I was working on. She adjusted quickly to the situation, but it has left her vulnerable to new things...reprogramming and virus attacks being the most major of problems."

            Tails and Kintobor exchanged glances upon hearing this, both looking concerned and surprised.

            "Well, at least she's okay with it," Tails finally stated. "What's the program that you need to finish up with?"

            Light motioned the two-tailed fox over to one of the consoles and brought up some coding, starting to explain to Tails about what he was attempting to do. Shadow quickly joined them, adding his two cents when he thought it was needed.

            Kintobor looked over at the group for a moment, then turned his gaze to the Robot Masters in the room. "Well." He clapped his hands together. "Who's up for a few upgrades?"

            Ice and Elec exchanged glances, while Rock and Heat looked at the strange man with curious expressions. Rock noted that he seemed to have four fingers instead of the usual five, but decided against saying anything that might end up annoying the roboticist.

            "I'll do it," Elec finally spoke up, stepping forward.

            Kintobor nodded slightly, then started to walk around the electric-based Robot Master, one hand behind his back and the other at his chin as he muttered to himself.

            "I can tell you were built with electricity in mind," Kintobor finally stated. "What do you call yourself?"

            "I am ElecMan, one of the original Robot Masters," Elec responded. "I was built to keep an eye on power plants and make sure they were running properly."

            "Hmmm-hmm. Anything in particular you want added to you?" Kintobor's glasses flashed, as though he might already have something in mind.

            "I was wondering if I could have a way to bring up my electrical charge faster," Elec responded. "If any of us are going to have to fight Maria, or some creation of Wily's that is larger or stronger than the rest of us, I want to be able to dish out more."

            Kintobor's expression brightened somewhat. "Interesting." He looked over at Dr. Light. "Tell me, Thomas - do you have any tesla cords lying about?"

            "Tesla cords?" Light looked away from the screen, pausing the conversation he was having with Tails, a slight frown on his face. "Yes, I do believe there are some lying around in my lab. Why?"

            "Excellent. I believe I may have come up with a way to upgrade ElecMan here."

            Light looked over at Elec, who gave the roboticist a determined nod in return. After a moment, he looked back over at Kintobor.

            "Very well. I think there are a couple lying around in my lab." Light looked over at Rock, who was still standing at the entrance to the room. "Rock, if you would."

            Rock nodded, then turned and slipped out of the room, his armor switching to what looked like normal human clothes.

            "You are a robot, as well?" Kintobor asked as he followed Rock out. Elec was close behind.

            "Everybody except for Dad," Rock replied. "He made almost everybody here. Except for Heat, Snake, Sword, and Shadow."

            "Shadow?" Kintobor sounded surprised.

            "The ninja who was back there?" Rock reminded, glancing back. "His name is ShadowMan. We just drop the last syllable because most of us already have it attached to our names."

            "And what's your full name, then? RockMan?"

            Rock shook his head, then returned his gaze to where he was going. "No. Originally, I was built to be a lab assistant for Dad. When Dr. Wily took my brothers and reprogrammed them into fighting machines, I volunteered to get combat upgrades to stop them." He stopped in the rec room, right in front of the lab entrance. Looking up at Kintobor, he stated, "Now the humans refer to me as 'MegaMan'."

            "MegaMan?" Kintobor raised an eyebrow. "For what reason?"

            "He uses a type of weapon referred to as a Mega Buster," Elec explained. "As the rest of us were named after what we were built for or capable of, he adapted that for himself."

            "Ah." Kintobor nodded, a look of understanding coming of his face. "That makes sense." He looked over at the door Rock had stopped at. "This is it? The lab Thomas spoke of?"

            "Yup." Rock pushed the door open and motioned for the roboticist to follow him inside. "Dad uses this one as his private space, and we have a larger space we use to repair each other after going out to try to weaken Wily's forces. You can transfer some of the tools that you need from here to there if you need more space."

            Kintobor looked around, taking in the amount of space and tools that Light had available to him. He nodded slightly. "Yes, I might need to do that if I start working on more than one of you." He spotted something in one of the back corners, and he moved over to it quickly. "Perfect! Tesla coils!"

            "How are you planning on putting those on me?" Elec asked, frowning slightly.

            "I was thinking..." Kintobor picked one up - it was smaller than one of the average Robot Master's limbs - and brought it over to Elec, holding it at an angle so that it would come up between his right shoulder and his head. "Would four of them back here work?" The roboticist placed the tesla coil on a nearby table and thought for a moment, muttering as he calculated every angle in his head. Finally, he nodded. "All I would need to do is find out how to rewire everything so that you can use the tesla coils to their fullest extent..."

            "I can help with that," Rock volunteered. "I know the blueprints for all of the Robot Masters in the building." Seeing that Kintobor looked slightly unconvinced, he added, "My primary function is as a lab assistant."

            "You are this willing to do something that could end up turning your friends into even more of a killing machine?"

            Kintobor's statement gave Rock pause.

            The roboticist gave the young-looking robot a concerned look. "I have had...experience with turning machines into killing monsters. If it were not for past events, I would probably not be working with you."

            "Are you saying that you were something like Wily?" Elec demanded, his eyes narrowing slightly.

            "Unfortunately," Kintobor confirmed softly. "However, I have seen what could have possibly come out of it, and I've switched focus, especially since my own world is in danger, as well." He walked back over to the corner and grabbed three other tesla cords of the same size as the first, bringing them over to the lab table the first was lying on.

            "Your world's in danger?" Rock repeated, frowning.

            "From a young man who doesn't know when to quit," Kintobor growled. He slammed his fists into the lab table. "Kidnapping mere children and turning them into mindless soldiers! It's enough to make me wish I had Metal Sonic in working order so that I can send him after that monster!"

            "Metal Sonic?" Elec raised an eyebrow.

            Kintobor waved the question away carelessly. "An old project, back when I was still intent on taking over the world - before everything turned on its head and I was sent to that alternate dimension..." He shook his head and let out a sigh. "None of it matters, now." He looked over at Elec. "Are you still willing to take that upgrade? After all that I have said?"

            "Yes," Elec responded instantly. "We're going to need all the help we can get, and what you're offing is our best bet at beating Wily." He jumped up on a nearby lab table, lying on his stomach so that Kintobor wouldn't have a problem getting at the circuits in his back. "I'm long overdue for an upgrade, anyway."

            Kintobor looked at the Robot Master in surprise, then looked over at Rock, who gave the roboticist a determined nod. Kintobor then nodded in return.

            "Let's get to work," he declared.


	15. Operation: Liberation!

            "It's been almost a week and I still can't make heads or tails of all of your programming!" Wily sent a glare at Maria, who was still on standby, but had been moved from the center of the room to next to the computer console he was working at. "I've been able to make some progress with my other project, thanks to you, but there's still the matter of getting it to work properly. The stupid thing doesn't act like a killing machine!"

            Maria, as she hadn't during other times when the mad scientist had yelled at her, didn't answer.

            Wily let out an annoyed sigh and sent a hand through one of the spikes of gray hair that stuck out at the side of his head. "Maybe I should have gone with one of the other programs rather than this one." He shook his head, muttering under his breath.

            It was because he was distracted by what was in front of him (and around him) that he wasn't aware of what was going on outside of his dark lab...

            **Spacial Break**

            "Keep it up, guys!" Tails called out. "You've almost got him!" He kicked a Mett that was coming at him back into a wall while a strange contraption made solely of large gears zapped a large group of them while the lavender fox-like creature twirled her tails while lifting up QuickMan, stopping his running right in his tracks.

            "Hey!" the Wilybot yelped, a surprised and terrified look on his face. "Put me down!"

            "No," the fox Pokemon replied sourly. To anyone else, though, it sounded like she had said, "Nine."

            "Good work, Vanessa," Tails praised. He walked forward to stand in front of the Ninetales, giving QuickMan a closer look. "I'm glad we worked with Sonic on this technique - QuickMan may be slower, but he's still pretty fast."

            QuickMan's eyes widened, then narrowed into slits. "Who says I'm slow? Master made me to be-"

            "Fast, which I get." Tails slipped around and turned off the self-destruct, which the speedy Robot Master had already initiated. "But you're not as fast as my friend."

            Before the Wilybot could respond, Tails found his shutdown switch and sent him into standby.

            "Alec, can you send him back to Dr. Light?" Tails asked, turning to face an Alakazam.

            The Psychic-Type sent a wave of psychic energy at a Mega-Mett, sending it flying before a large blast of electricity from a particular Robot Master shorted it out. _"I am capable of doing so, but I will not be able to return."_

            "I think we've got things handled here," the two-tailed fox responded with a smile. He nodded to Vanessa, and she lowered QuickMan to the ground before taking off after another Robot Master that was fighting Sword (who had two swords sheathed at his sides and was holding what looked like some sort of lightsaber in both hands) and Guts (who appeared to have had no upgrades): a large, floating figure with two smaller spheres rotating around him.

            Alec nodded, then moved over to the Wilybot, lifted him up by flicking a spoon, then they both disappeared in a flash of light.

            "Tails!" A humanoid robot in a green jumpsuit with orange stripes (with an identically-colored helmet) flew over, the helicopter blades on his back keeping him in the air. "I saw the flash. Are you all right?"

            "I'm fine, Copter," Tails responded. He ducked as a Mett was suddenly thrown in his direction; despite the fact that he was about as young as Rock looked, he was clearly in his element here on the battlefield inside Wily's base. "Alec just took QuickMan back to base for a quick reprogramming. You don't need to worry about me."

            "Well, all right," Copter replied. He still looked worried, but he wasn't going to press.

            "Could you fly up a little higher and see how we're doing against all of these robots?" Tails asked. "I want to know our odds at this point."

            The worried expression under the new Robot Master's visor brightened. "Sure!" He promptly started to rise up as Tails started to fight off more Metts by jumping on their helmets, squishing the circuitry underfoot.

            Almost instantly, Copter swooped back down, landing next to Tails. "We've got a major problem," he warned, tone wavering because of all the worry that was crammed into his voice.

            "What is it?" Tails asked, kicking away a Mett right before it exploded. A large chain of Metts soon followed suit, leaving scorch marks all over the white floor.

            "The MegaMan Killers...they've decided to join in." Copter pointed to a spot in the circular chamber in front of them, forcing Tails to stand on his toes in order to try and see what was going on.

            Enker was already in a fight with Rock, trying to strike with his spear only to get hit by Buster shots. Mere moments later, a beam made of what appeared to be Buster shots combined were fired back, but Rock was able to avoid it by dodging to the right. Unfortunately, his left hand was caught in the blast, tearing off some of the armor in the process. It was a good thing Rock had his armor upgraded - now, he looked like he had a miniature version of what Maria had worn, only in his signature colors.

            Punk was constantly charging at Snake and was failing miserably, as the Robot Master's more snake-like form allowed him to move quickly away from the line of fire (now that he had no legs). FireMan was assisting in the fight, as well, keeping Snake's energy up as well as taking the occasional shot at the spike-covered Wilybot. As Fire's cannons had managed to become majorly upgraded (and could increase in size), they packed a major punch to whatever Punk could dish out.

            Blues - his form now more agile and with a white ponytail of hair sticking out the back of his helmet - was facing against a blue and white robot with a yellow boomerang-shaped crest on the front of his helmet - Ballade, Tails remembered. He had his Buster out, but it soon switched to a sword identical to the one SwordMan was deploying. OilMan - now looking a little more humanoid and less like some sort of elongated oil drop - snuck up behind Blues' opponent and sprayed a large amount of oil at the Wilybot's feet, causing him to slip up.

            "Unless they start having trouble taking them out, I don't think we're going to have to fight them," Tails responded.

            "Miles." Shadow materialized beside the Mobian in his new, more ninja-esque armor, startling Copter enough to get him to jump back into the airs again. "I've located Maria's location. Get Elec - we will need him."

            Tails nodded, then turned, locking eyes with the Lightbot, who had managed to fire back enough Metts that he was now free of any sort of opposition.

            Elec took note of Shadow's presence and gave a slight nod in the robot ninja's direction.

            Shadow nodded in return. "This way," he stated, turning and running for one of the doorways that had been blown open. Tails, Copter, and Elec followed, the last releasing sparks from the tesla cords on his back at any of the lesser Wilybots that attempted to pursue them.

            "Do you have it?" Shadow asked as they slipped into the corridor. It was wide enough to let him run without hinderance, as he now had a pair of thin, red "wings" strapped to his back - very much like a scarf that had been thoroughly starched.

            Tails nodded and held up a flash drive. "It'll shut her down until we can get a good look at it, at least." He glanced back at Elec, who had not only gained the tesla cords, but also had his entire form upgraded **[a/n: think of his NetNavi form. Same goes for Shadow]**. "And I'll need someone to retrain her so that I can get it in."

            "Which is where we come in," Elec stated with a nod.

            Copter looked a little terrified as he nodded in agreement. "I-if I have to."

            "I doubt you will, Copter," Tails responded.

            The group made its way through the halls, coming to a stop in front of a door clearly marked with a large skull. It looked like it had been recently placed there, as the hinges were still new.

            "I'll take care of this," Elec stated. He brought his hands together, creating a large ball of electricity. The Lightbot then threw it forward, causing the door to bend as a sonic boom akin to thunder was heard.

            Shadow then kicked it open as they heard a yelp of alarm from the other side of the door.

            "Maria! Stop them!" Wily wailed as the group dashed into his lab.

            The Reploid came online in an instant, her movements still jerky, and she started towards the group, her hands starting to become covered in flames.

            Elec moved to intercept whatever Maria was about to do, his hands sparking with electricity as Wily looked at him in alarm from where he stood by the console.

            "Tails! Now!" Elec ordered. He sent a blast of electricity at the Reploid, hitting her directly in the chest and causing her to stop short, jerking as though she wanted to move forward but couldn't.

            "Right!" Tails slipped around behind Maria and twisted his tails together, creating a propeller motion so that he could get up in the air to look for the jack-in port. Moving some of her hair back, he found a section of synthetic skin that had been removed, revealing the port that he was looking for. "Here goes nothing!"

            As soon as the Mobian had jammed the flash drive into the back of Maria's neck, the Reploid stiffened, blank eyes widening. A silent cry escaped her lips right before she collapsed into a heap, electricity still sparking off her.

            "Let's hope that did it," Tails stated, dusting his hands off. He landed next to Maria and glared at Wily, who was looking even more nervous now that he was surrounded by three robots and the young two-tailed fox. "And as for you..."

            "Please...don't kill me," Wily whimpered. "I don't want to die."

            "Kill you?" Tails blinked in surprise, then frowned. "Who said that we were ever going to kill you?"

            "Tails, he doesn't deserve to live, after what he did," Copter whimpered. "I certainly wouldn't be able to, what with all the guilt of doing that to someone."

            "Will you relax?" Elec responded with an annoyed glare. He let out a sigh and shook his head, bringing his left hand up to his forehead as though he was going to hold it. "Just pick up Maria and meet up with Blues when he's done with Ballade. He can teleport you back to base."

            Copter took one look at the annoyed expression on Elec's face, then quickly nodded, picked up Maria's prone form, and slipped out into the hall.

            Tails crossed his arms over his chest, still glaring at Wily. "All right, Wily. You're under arrest for crimes against humanity."

            "And what right do you have to say that to me?" the mad scientist responded. He started to look a little more bold, now that there was one less Robot Master in the room. "You're just another robot, aren't you?"

            Tails bristled, then he leapt forward and slammed Wily into the console. Grabbing one of his tails and sticking it in the mad scientist's face, he demanded, "Does this look robotic to you?! Because if it does, you're going to need your eyes checked!"

            Wily let out an uncharacteristic whimper.

            "Listen - my world's in enough danger from people like you," Tails growled. "Other worlds don't need this kind of trouble." He threw Wily over to Elec, who caught him easily. "Let's get him back to base - and make sure that he can't get any access to anything mechanical."

            Elec nodded in agreement. "Right." He turned and dashed out, Tails following close behind.

            Shadow started to make his way towards the doorway, then paused and glanced back at a darkened corner of the lab. A pair of blue eyes stared back at him with a crazed expression.

            The ninja took this as bad news, and left as quickly as he could, pulling up the door as he went...right before the whatever-it-was tried to launch itself at him, only to slam into the door.

            "Wily has created a monster," Shadow noted grimly before he ran after the others.

            **Time/Spacial Break - change in POV**

            Maria let out a groan as her processor came online, resulting in a horrific headache that seemed to throb from her head to down her spine. At first, the pain disoriented her, making her forget what had happened before she had been knocked out...

            ...and then it all came back in a rush.

            Maria's eyes snapped open as a snarl started to creep onto her face; she expected that the first thing she was going to see was a certain bat-eared mad scientist. Instead, she was unprepared for the light fixture that was position directly above her head, which did not help her headache.

            "Gah! Bright!" Maria slammed her eyes shut and attempted to cover her face with her left arm, only to find that she couldn't move it, which most likely meant that she was strapped down. An annoyed growl escaped her lips when she realized this, then a dejected sigh some time later when she resigned herself to adjusting to the light, blinking rapidly in order to let her eyes adjust.

            When her eyes had adjusted enough to allow her to look around without squinting, Maria turned her head to the left slowly in order to try and see what was going on in the area surrounding her.

            The first thing that came to mind was that she wasn't in Wily's den of torture: the area was too clean, too...

            Light.

            Maria moved her head to the right sharply - causing her to grit her teeth in pain - and she caught sight of a figure she hadn't expected to see in the area - which happened to clearly be a lab; most likely the larger repair bay.

            "Tails?" Maria asked, incredulous.

            The figure - who had been slumped in a chair, obviously asleep, suddenly jolted up at the sound of Maria's voice. The two-tailed fox looked around the lab before stopping on Maria, looking her directly in the eyes, his own widening to the point that they looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets. He quickly scrambled out of his seat and came over to stand next to the lab table.

            "Maria?" he asked hesitantly.

            A dry smirk worked its way across her face. "Hey, buddy. You take my advice about getting yourself a Psychic-Type?"

            A grin broke out across Tails' face. "You're back."

            " 'Course I'm back," Maria responded. She shifted her wrists, hearing them grate against the metal bindings that kept her where she was. "Mind letting me get up?"

            "Not just yet," Tails responded. "I've gotta get Dr. Light so that we can run one last checkup on your programming to make sure your clear of whatever Wily did to you. It looked pretty bad when we got to you."

            "Wait -" Maria moved her head, watching as Tails walked around her and moved to a nearby computer at her left. "You saw me?"

            Tails glanced back, giving a slight nod. "Yeah." A frown came over his face. "Don't you remember?" He glanced over at the computer for a moment, then looked back at the Reploid expectantly.

            A frown came over Maria's own face, her blue eyes clouding over as she thought back, trying to force herself to bring up what happened between the attempted reprogramming and her waking up in Light's repair bay.

            Within Maria's memory banks, her memories were arranged in according to occurrence, but there was one file sitting in between when she blacked out and when she woke up.

            "...most of it is blank," Maria finally admitted, blinking as the world around her came back into focus. "There are a few things that I remember, but they're mostly fragments. When I..." The Reploid frowned. "...tried to restrain myself from filling out his orders." A look of surprise came over her face as she realized what she had just said.

            Tails' eyebrows went up in surprise. "I guess there were a few flaws that Wily overlooked." A slight smile came over his face, and he looked back at the computer for a moment longer. "Well, everything seems to check out, at least." He looked back at the Reploid. "I'm going to get Dr. Light just to be sure."

            "You don't need to get me, Miles," responded a familiar voice as a door opened. Maria could hear multiple footsteps approaching her location, and a moment later she saw Dr. Light, Rock, Kintobor, an unfamiliar Robot Master with helicopter blades strapped to his back and three other figures that looked incredibly familiar.

            Maria looked at the three figures in confusion for a moment, before her eyes widened. "Elec? Blues? Shadow? What happened to you guys?"

            "Your friends had some pretty decent ideas for upgrades," Blues responded, nodding in Kintobor's direction.

            Maria raised an eyebrow, giving Kintobor a curious look. The mustachioed Overlander nodded, a smirk coming over his face.

            "It seems my experience in the field came to be of good use," he remarked.

            "I guess so," Maria responded, a smirk coming over her own face. She looked over at Light. "You tell him about what happened? Why I'm like this?"

            Light nodded. "They seemed to take it pretty well."

            "Well, considering that Kintobor used to be a bad guy who went around and turned organics into robots before he switched, I might have been a little worried for a second there if they took it the wrong way," Maria explained. "Considering that I'm a Reploid, now."

            "Reploid?" Tails came over, then gave Light a curious look. "Is that what she's called?"

            "It's short for 'replicating android', seeing as she managed to retain everything that made her a human," Light explained. "I'm considering trying to make one of my own from scratch."

            "Well, if anyone can do it, I'm sure you can," Maria encouraged. She wiggled her wrists again. "Soooo...are you going to let me loose?"

            "Give me a moment," Dr. Light responded. He motioned for Tails and Kintobor to follow him, and the three moved into the computer and started to speak in hushed tones while looking over whatever-it-was on the computer screen.

            "I take it Wily's been beat?" Maria asked, returning her attention to the Robot Masters who were standing around her. She wanted to ignore the whispering, as it might have been something that she didn't exactly want to hear. Besides, there were a few things that the Reploid wanted to hear about.

            Rock nodded. "Yeah - he's in police custody now. Copter and Elec were the ones to take him in."

            Maria blinked in surprise, then frowned. "Copter?" she repeated. "Who's that?"

            "That would be me," the unfamiliar Robot Master stated nervously. "Tails put me together."

            Maria looked at the unfamiliar robot in surprise. "Really?" Her eyebrows went up. "Huh. I guess that makes sense, considering that he uses his tails in a similar manner to helicopter blades. Did he put you together right before they went to fight Wily?"

            Copter nodded, still looking nervous. "I...didn't fight, though. That scared me."

            "At least Wily will stay behind bars for good, now," Rock pointed out.

            "Oh?" Maria raised an eyebrow, giving Rock a curious look. "Really?"

            Rock nodded. "The police made sure to lock him in one of the most secure prisons in the country, and Wily's been stripped of any machine parts he may have been carrying with him."

            "He also broke down as soon as we got him out of his lair," Blues added. "It's likely that he's finally lost it. Even if he is released, I doubt that he'll be planning any sort of takeover anytime soon."

            Maria frowned slightly, something in Blues' statement bringing up a memory of something she had read some time ago. "I dunno about that. Eggman over there, back when he was still a bad guy, ended up having his mind broken after being beaten by an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog named Sonic, who had been a thorn in his side for ten years. Kintobor made a quick recovery and came back pretty much sane." She tried to shrug, which was difficult considering her predicament. "And then he got sent to an alternate dimension where his other self was being controlled by evil aliens. When he saw what sort of damage had been done - well, he had a thorough rehabilitation, let's just say."

            "Thorough indeed," Kintobor spoke up as he returned, Tails and Light following.

            "Maria, do you feel any sort of pain?" Light asked, giving the Reploid a curious look.

            "Well, it kind of feels like someone took a steel spike and slammed it through my spine and up into my head," Maria replied with another attempted shrug. "It's probably an after-effect of getting loose of whatever it was that Wily used on me, though."

            "Actually, we had to update a lot of the circuitry in that area, so you're probably feeling a little sore because you're getting used to the new spinal cord and extra processing power we added," Tails explained.

            Maria blinked, taking mental note that the head-throbbing pain was already starting to fade. "Okay, I guess. But why'd you have to do that?"

            "The programming that Albert used was mostly found in that area, and we had to remove it so that we wouldn't have to worry about it trying to move to other areas of your system if we tried to remove it from your programming directly," Light explained. "Unfortunately..." The roboticist trailed off, and he scratched the back of his head as he looked away, somehow appearing nervous.

            "Unfortunately what?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow.

            "We were unable to remove all of it," Kintobor stated bluntly.

            Maria's form stiffened, but she remained silent as the Overlander continued.

            "It seems that this...'Master Control Program', as Blues so aptly called it, was designed to fuse itself with the subject's original programs, meaning that removing it would have done mental damage to the victim. Luckily, Albert Wily's add-ons made most of the programming unable to completely bond with you, and we managed to remove it without too much difficulty. There is a small amount left behind, however."

            "Is it going to affect how I'm going to live the rest of my functioning life?" Maria asked cautiously, her voice clearly stating that she did not like where this was going.

            "Unless you decide to tell anyone else about this? No, it won't," Light responded. "However, it might become useful in battle later on, if you put yourself in such a situation."

            "Useful?" Maria let out a short, bitter laugh. "How can something that leaves me completely willpower-less prove to be useful?"

            "We've managed to rework the program so that it won't be that extreme," Tails explained. "It works more like an information upload than...well, a Robo-slave program." He sent a quick looked up at Kintobor, who turned his head in order to avert his gaze from the two-tailed fox.

            "Information download?" Maria repeated, frowning. "I guess I could find that useful...but how am I going to activate it?"

            "Here's the sticky part," Tails noted with a sigh.

            "You're not the one who activates it," Light warns.

            "The person who knows the code does," Kintobor stated.

            Maria blinked. "Person who knows -" She cut herself off and started to try and sit up, only for the metal bonds to keep her from getting up onto her elbows. Flopping back down, she demanded, "What code?"

            "Something that we put together that activates the Protocol - our name for the readjusted program," Light explained. "There's another that deactivates it, and also transfers it from one person to another."

            "Do you know if it'll work?"

            Maria's question gave the three pause, and they exchanged glances.

            The Reploid saw the looks they were exchanging. "You don't really know, do you?"

            "I...ran a few simulations," Kintobor admitted. "But it doesn't exactly have the same effect as a real-life test."

            Maria blinked, then looked around at the group that was surrounding her, gauging their reactions to Kintobor's statement, while she considered what the Overlander was suggesting.

            "All right," the Reploid finally stated. "Go ahead. Give it a try."

            Tails opened his mouth quickly. "Protocol: Alpha-Beta: Activate."

            The effect was instantaneous.

            Maria let out a yelp of surprise as her armor suddenly glowed brightly as her processor accepted the code - she could feel it activating in the back of her processor and downloading data from out of nowhere. When the glow faded, her armor had changed to a golden yellow color, with a yellow-white color accenting other areas. Tails' symbol - his two tails surrounded in a red circle - appeared on both of her shoulders.

            "That was...unexpected," Maria finally stated, lifting up her head and looking over her armor. She closed her eyes momentarily as she went through the data, only for her form to stiffen. The Reploid snapped her eyes open and looked over at Tails.

            "Your home world's in major trouble," she noted, her eyes narrowing.

            "As soon as the Protocol testing is settled, we're going to be going back," Tails responded. "We could use your help."

            "Majorly," Maria muttered, dropping her head back onto the table.

            Dr. Light spoke up next. "Theta-Delta: Transfer."

            Maria's armor glowed again, this time turning into white armor with gold highlights, Dr. Light's insignia replacing Tails'.

            Maria blinked. "Well, I guess now I know a little bit more about maintenance for my Reploid form, at least. That's going to be helpful later." She sent the roboticist a curious look. "I can't pop by whenever I need work done - I could be busy elsewhere."

            Light nodded in agreement. "That is true." He exhaled, a hopeful look in his eyes. "And now, the deactivation code. Alpha-Beta: Deactivate."

            Maria's armor shone once more, returning to its original coloring.

            "Well, glad that worked out," Maria finally stated. "So, are you going to let me loose, now?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, now Maria is immune to Mind Control! ...somewhat. If it tries to change who she is, it'll get kicked out. If it doesn't try to change who she is and simply suppresses instead, then she'll be under someone else's control.


	16. A World Revisited

**Maria's POV**

When I started to get ready to create a passage to Neo-Mobius, I found that there were two things pulling me in two different directions.

            "Something's wrong," I muttered, closing one eye as we stood in Light's lab. A display instantly showed up, kind of unnerving me, but I could see that there was a lot of information that I could understand.

            "It feels like my energy's getting pulled in two directions," I continued, opening my eye again and looking over at Tails, Kintobor, and Light. "From what I can see, one location is in Kanto, and the other's in Sinnoh."

            "We've got a lab in Kanto," Tails replied. "We were working there before we came here. Cyrus is headquartered in Sinnoh."

            "From what we have seen, he drained Lake Verity and placed his citadel there," Kintobor added grimly.

            My eyes narrowed. "Well, isn't that just great. Lien lost her home, time and space are out of whack..." I shook my head, then paused before looking back up at Tails and Kintobor with a determined expression. "I'm going to Sinnoh. Cyrus is going to hear from me about this." I started to build up energy in my systems.

            "You're going there directly?" Tails asked in alarm. "That's dangerous!"

            "Tails, this is Maria you're talking about," Kintobor remained the two-tailed fox. "I believe she will be able to handle him." He looked back at me. "However, I do not want to be there when you confront him."

            "You're scared of the guy who tried to remake the universe?" I asked. I quickly corrected myself, "Well, he did, but that won't be for long."

            "You have the data," Tails stated. "You know what I know. Something happened on top of Mt. Coronet and things haven't been the same since."

            Mt. Coronet...?

            A data clip slipped into my mind - something off a news channel about major red and green fireworks coming from the top of the center of Sinnoh.

            Sinnoh video game scenes all over again. Oh boy...

            But if Tails and Kintobor don't want to run into this guy...

            "Okay." I gave a nod. "Let's take one of the Lanes Between and get over there."

            I released a blast of energy, creating a portal.

            "If what I know of these ley lines is right, then they act like tunnel systems," I stated. "They're connected to multiple places in the universe, so we should be able to travel to two different locations without me expending energy creating two portals."

            Tails and Kintobor looked surprised at the idea, but then they both gave a nod.

            "Let's go," the Overlander scientist stated.

            "Good luck," Light stated. I knew he didn't know what we were talking about, but he knew that there was something wrong on the other world.

            "Thanks," I stated with a nod. With that, the three of us stepped into the entrance to the ley line.

            The pulsing blue tunnel had short burst of white that occasionally went through the walls, and I could see what looked like stars and other planets through the walls - they were translucent.

            "So, this is a ley line?" Tails asked, looking around.

            "The people who live in an area that I've started to refer to as the 'Disney Kingdom' call them the Lanes Between," I replied, looking to my left at the two-tailed fox. "Some of them use them to travel from world to world. Others use devices called 'Gummi Ships'."

            "And portals?" Kintobor inquired.

            I shrugged. "I don't know much about that. All I can figure out is that I can make portals come open in certain locations on the worlds. Other than that, it's a complete mystery."

            We walked on for a little bit longer, Tails and Kintobor probably amusing themselves with their own thoughts on my abilities. I kept track of where we were on our path.

            After what felt like a few minutes, we came up to a fork in the ley line. One of the new passages - a narrow one - sloped downward into a steep slide and seemed to darken a little.

            My robotic systems took up a slight beeping noise and gave me a warning. _Tampering with ley line detected. Proceed with caution._

            "Something tells me that one leads to Sinnoh," I stated, pointing to the sloping ley line.

            "We'll take this one, then," Tails stated, pointing to the other tunnel. "We'll let the others know you're coming."

            "Good luck," Kintobor added. "We will be prepared if you have need of us."

            "Thanks," I replied.

            The Mobian and the Overlander walked through the even ley line, and I turned to look at the sloping one.

            "All right," I muttered to myself. "Here we go."

            I walked forward, and as soon as I stepped into the tunnel, I lost my footing. In an instant, I was sliding down the sides like I was in a water slide. It all evened out at the bottom, however, so I was able to get myself to stop by dragging my hands along either side of the tunnel and generating friction.

            I then got to my feet and started towards the end of the passage, pausing for a moment to turn on Light Refractor. When my orange jacket, red shirt, and jeans reappeared, I started forward and exited the portal.

            What I saw was what I had expected to see the least.

            I was now standing in what looked like a forest with tall trees and fresh, bright green grass - almost as though it was early spring and summer was just on the verge of hinting at its coming. I couldn't understand it - the ley line had clearly been tampered with, but I didn't see anything that looked like the source of the tampering.

            That is, until I heard an engine whirring behind me. I turned around sharply, expecting to face a machine like a Mett that had followed Tails, Kintobor, and me through the portal...but then I paused.

            "What is this thing?" I asked, frowning at the strange gold and gray ring behind me. It looked like someone had taken one of Sonic's Rings, enlarged it, and then attached a lot of machinery to it. The machinery now happened to be smoking - a lot.

            I couldn't make heads or tails of it.

            _*This looks a lot like one of those Warp Rings that are scattered around in those comic books you've been reading*_

            I stiffened. That voice... I've only heard it a few times before, but I'd know it anywhere. "M? Is that you?"

            _*The one and only*_

            "What are you doing?" A frown came over my face. "You're not about to talk about me getting my memories back or anything, are you?"

            _*No. Just thought it was interesting that one of Finitivus' rings happened to be the source of the trouble*_

            It felt like my gears had frozen. "Finitivus?" My eyes widened. "Of course! Charon! Cyrus must have used his abilities in order to drag kids from my world over to this one!"

            _*Exactly what I was thinking*_

            That statement got me to pause. "What _you_ were thinking? You're a part of me - my memory banks. How can you think for yourself?"

_*Remember what Light said about extra personality data? You're listening to it speak right now*_

            "You're the personality data?!" I couldn't believe my ears. "How did you get in there, then?" Another thought crossed my mind, then as well, and I couldn't help but ask, "And is M your real name?"

_*No, M is not my real name, and as for the other question...I don't think you're ready for it yet, because it involves a pretty big gap of memory that you lost when you were five - before I got trapped in here*_

            "When I was five?" I frowned. "How does that make any sense? I can remember everything from then."

            _*Well, you'll have to check in on that later. And as for my real name...I don't feel like I can tell you that, either. At least, not for a while*_

            "Why not?" I was starting to feel annoyed with this extra person in my head. She was keeping secrets - big ones - and I was going to have to figure out what they were in order to make more sense of the situation.

            _*I don't think you're ready for it yet, that's why* M responded, sounding annoyed. *The name I'm going to let you call me from now on is a code name I used before I got into this mess, and honestly, I highly prefer it over just one glyph*_

            Glyph? Who uses that word anymore?

_*Me and a bunch of other people I know. and don't say anything else - yes I can hear your thoughts, but that's not what I want to tell you about right now*_

            "All right," I muttered. "So, what do you want me to call you, then?"

_*Inferno*_

            "Inferno?" I repeated, frowning. There was something about it that almost seemed familiar...but I couldn't quite place where I had heard it before. "Well, okay then." I gave a shrug. "Is there anything else you wanted to tell me before I try to figure out where we are?"

            _*Yeah. Remember what Light told you about the whole downgrade he gave the MCP-thing? How he meant it as just an info-gathering type of deal?*_

            "Uh...yeah? What about it?"

_*I just found something that may change things. He left a part of it lodged in here, and it changed the Protocol's programming a bit*_

            Uh-oh. That didn't sound good.

            "Define 'a bit'," I stated cautiously, not liking where this was going.

            _*I don't particularly like it either, Maria, but you're going to have to run with it. The inactive programming latched onto the Protocol and changed it from an information gatherer into something of an inert loyalty program*_

I sucked in a breath. "Loyalty program?! What -"

            _*Hear me out! The program doesn't affect your personality or your morals, just a portion of your free will. From what it looks like in here, it just makes it so you're more likely to follow orders given by whoever happens to say the activation or transfer codes. The information stuff is just so that you know something about their tactics and situation. Understand?*_

            I couldn't help but feel shaken. Changes a portion of my free will?

            "I...I understand it, but I don't like it," I replied, slightly panicked.

            _*Well, you don't have to tell people about it, so it's up to you whether you want to let people know about it or not. Now how about we find out what's going on around here before someone finds you talking to yourself?*_

            I sighed and shook my head in amusement. Back to what I had been planning to do in the first place.

            I turned my attention away from the strange ring - I'd have to tell someone about it later so that they could get rid of it - and started through the trees. It didn't look like it was that late in the day - probably mid-afternoon or mid-morning, depending on whether I was going east or west - and there wasn't a lot of movement in the area. It kind of made me wonder if there were any Pokemon hiding in the trees at all.

            That's when I started to hear the cheering. It sounded like there was a crowd nearby chanting someone's name-two names, in fact. But the mess was so garbled that I couldn't make heads or tails of it. However, I now knew that I was moving in the right direction.

            It didn't take me too long to figure out where the noise was coming from - I stumbled upon the entrance of some building a few minutes later. I almost looked like it was some sort of...stadium, or something.

            But that begged the question: what was a stadium doing out here in the middle of a forest? And what was going on inside it?

            Well, only one way to find out.

            I walked up to the open doors and stepped inside, starting to wish that I'd brought my wallet. I keep all of my Trainer licenses in there, even the ones that had expired when I got a new one in a new region. They kinda worked like debit cards, too, so I would have been able to buy something without worrying about having cash on-hand.

            The lobby was pretty large for a stadium, and it looked like there were all sorts of booths where a person could buy stuff...from both Trainers and Pokemon. There were Pokemon here from the Exploration side of the world - weird. I wouldn't have thought that they would come here, on account of Trainers wanting to catch new Pokemon for their teams and all.

            It must have had something to do with what Cyrus did...which, considering that this place didn't look at all like what Tails' little info blip described, meant that everything was back to normal. I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at that - I missed helping take the big guy down! Shoot!

            The rest of the lobby area looked more like a place where someone could relax - there were a couple sofas lounging around a small pool with some Magikarp swimming in it and a large boulder with a cave in it-

            A cave? Why would they put that in this place? I started towards it and easily moved across some stepping stones and into the entrance.

            The cave was small, to be sure, but it certainly wasn't bare - carvings covered the walls, depicting red creatures with dreadlocks...

            Dreadlocks?! I've seen these carvings before! These belonged in the Lake Verity cave! Which means-

            _"Who's there?"_

            My eyes moved from one of the walls and towards the back of the cave, where a familiar figure was hovering with her paws on her hips and her two tails swishing about angrily.

            I eyed the four red dreadlocks on top of her head and gave a slight smile. "Hey, Lien. It's just me."

            The Mesprit frowned and, after a moment, flew a little closer to me so that she could get a better look, her arms in front of her as though she was swimming. I guess she isn't exactly able to see in the dark all that well. _"Maria?"_

            I gave a nod. "Yeah."

            Lien's eyes widened, then she put her paws on her hips again while a scowl came over her face. _"Where have you been?! We thought you would have gotten here during the trouble, not after!"_

            I gave a sad smile. "Sorry. I was called to another world and...got caught up with something."

            _"What? I know there's something about you that's different, Maria White."_ Lien crossed her arms over her chest, now. _"What happened?"_

            Well. If there is anyone that I should tell...I may as well get this over with. People are going to learn about my form change sooner or later.

            "I...kinda got into an accident," I started. My clothes flickered like the insubstantial light they were, and the Light Refractor gave out and started to recharge. This really revealed the fact that I wasn't exactly human in body anymore.

            Lien let out a gasp of surprise. _"What-"_

            "A roboticist did this to save my life," I explained. "He had to, or else I wouldn't have been able to help him out, and then I wouldn't be here."

            The Being of Emotion looked really emotional at my statement. _"Where did you go? This design...it doesn't look like anything I'm familiar with."_

            "You probably wouldn't be," I replied. "This didn't come from Mobius." I motioned to my armor. "It came from a section of the universe called Capcom-specifically a world known for a robotic hero named MegaMan."

            _"MegaMan?"_ Lien frowned. _"What kind of name is that?"_

            "The robot gave himself that title, and he was pretty much a newborn when he volunteered to take on the evils of his world." I shrugged. "I doubt he's going to change it anytime soon." I looked around the cave. "So, what's up with the stadium on top of Lake Verity?"

            _"It's a gift from Palkia for releasing him from the Red Chain,"_ Lien explained. _"This used to be the sight of Cyrus' headquarters, so he thought it would be pretty fitting. Because it got dropped here, though, Twinleaf has been turned into something of a tourist town, and there are a lot more people in New Sandgem as a result."_ The Mesprit paused and cocked her head to one side. _"There's a tournament going on right now to celebrate our victory, and...it seems as though Red and Khrista just finished-the Avatar won."_

That's a new word I hadn't heard before. "Avatar?" It took me a moment to realize the names that Lien had listed. "Wait - Khrista is here? The last I checked, she was trying to finish off White 2!"

            _"One question at a time,"_ Lien replied irritably. _"An Avatar is a human from your world who had played these 'games' that they have been speaking of. Only certain Psychics were aware of their existence, on the account that they were only seeable by them. And as for Khrista, she is actually the one who assisted us the most in destroying Cyrus' regime."_

            "Really?" I blinked in surprise. "That's...unexpected. And you said she managed to beat Red?"

_"Not but a few seconds ago. She is going to be facing off against her cousin, Joshua, in about fifteen minutes."_

            Well. I may have missed Red and Khrista have at it, but I definitely won't miss this one.

            "I don't want to miss this," I remarked, grinning.

            * _You'd better remember that none of these kids had come here on their own - not counting your sister*_ Inferno spoke up knowingly.

            My grin faded at the thought. Oh, yeah.

            "Hey, Lien, do any of these kids know of a way home? Besides my sister?"

            Lien frowned, then shook her head. _"Most of them don't think they're ever going to go home, but some of them have considered it."_

            "Only some?" I frowned. "They're not worrying about what their parents are thinking? I know Mom nearly blew a gasket when Matthew walked out to the garage to practice his guitar and never even plucked a string."

            _"They may think that they have no way home because Cyrus brought them here and that device now sits as a lawn ornament in front of the stadium."_ Lien smiled dryly. _"Maybe you should go and show off to show them a way home."_

"Yeah...that might not be a bad idea." The grin reappeared on my face. "Which way to the stands?"

            Lien was quick to give me directions, and I was climbing up into the top row of the stadium, which I learned was called Spacial Colosseum. Man, this place was packed. There were Trainers and Coordinators here that I recognized at just a glance - and even a couple people from my neighborhood, too.

            I realized a second later that my armor was visible, and everybody could probably see me, what with how the sun was bouncing off my armor and making a glare.

            "Hey! There's an open seat over here!"

            I turned upon hearing the familiar voice and caught sight of an Espeon sitting next to...was that a blue Eeveelution with wings?!

            I walked over and sat down next to the Espeon. "Thanks. I was starting to wonder if every single seat around here was full."

            "There are people here from all the regions," the blue Eeveeluton piped up, grinning. "My name's Grace, and this is my big sister Eliza." Her forked tail motion to the Espeon. "I'm an Angeleon!"

            "Angeleon?" I repeated, blinking. "Haven't heard of that Pokemon before." I blinked and shook my head. "Wait - Eliza?"

            The Espeon frowned. "Yes?"

            I shifted in my seat - they were bleachers, really - and I looked at the Psychic-Type directly. "What happened? I'd heard that kids had been dragged through, but I didn't think they'd end up getting turned into Pokemon, too!"

            Eliza's frown deepened. "You heard? You mean that you don't know anything about what's happened?"

            "Very little," I admitted. "I only just got here after stopping to talk with Lien for a minute and explaining to her why I was wearing this." I hit my knee, producing a clanging sound that got a few people nearby to turn their heads in my direction.

            I caught sight of one person in particular whose blue eyes widened upon catching sight of me.

            He got up and dash across the aisle, brown hair catching the sunlight as he exclaimed, "Maria?! Where did you get that armor?"

            I wasn't able to respond until the year-older mass of a boy slammed into me full force and sent me falling backwards.

            "Matthew!" I yelped, startled. "Get off! I don't know how much this can take, and I don't think I want to go back to Light's workshop just to get myself waxed or something!"

            Matthew obliged and moved off me and helped me get to my feet. His eyes looked wide enough that they could pop out of their sockets.

            "Where were you?" Matthew asked, looking me over. "Khrista told us Dialga and Liz said you'd gone to another world to do something, but -"

            "I went to MegaMan's world," I stated with a nod. "I think they call it Neo-Earth over there."

            "...Right." Matthew looked uncertain. "What happened? I mean, whenever I see that armor, I think of...the Reploids."

            "You're hitting closer to home than you think," I replied grimly. "As soon as I got to Neo-Earth, I fell into a bit of an accident by way of a Wilybot named MetalMan. I melted him after he'd loaded me up with so much shrapnel I would have left Stark at a loss for words. Light ended up doing this to save my life." I motioned to my armor. "Left me knocked out for about two weeks, but then I was able to help...destroy Wily."

            I really didn't want to talk about what that bat-eared freak had done to me, so that's the reason for my hesitation. If Matthew noticed, he didn't say anything.

            "Is this his physical destruction, building destruction, or mental?" Matthew asked raising an eyebrow.

            "The last two," I replied quickly. "So, what happened with you guys? Tails and Kintobor only told me so much when they figured out a way to make a one-way trip to where I was."

            Matthew frowned. "Tails and Kintobor? Why would they know anything about this?"

            "This planet isn't called Neo-Mobius for nothing," I replied, thinking back to when we had come up with the name in Unova. "Dialga and Palkia decided to drag Sonic and some of his team forward in time to this era right when Cyrus started acting up."

            "Wha - really?" Matthew looked around. "Then...where are they?"

            "Around," I replied with a wave of my hand. "Tails and Kintobor had me send them back to their lab in another region so that they wouldn't end up facing Cyrus if he was still in power. They probably got as much of a shock as I did when I got here." I folded my hands behind my back and started to rock back and forth on my heels. "So, what happened? How did you guys manage to take him out?"

            Matthew was about to open his mouth to respond, but Grace the Angeleon let out a loud "Shush! Ruby and May can do it!"

            I frowned at the statement, then caught sight of a flash of a screen and turned her head in the direction of the battlefield below. It looked like there was someone coming onto it from an entrance below the seating. On a large screen that was up on the other side of the stadium, it showed a closer look at the Trainer: brown hair, red shirt with a yellow MasterBall, jeans...

            My frown deepened, and I raised an eyebrow. "A yellow MasterBall? Do those even exist?"

            "Only on Khrista's shirt," Matthew responded. "And it's not there all the time, either."

            I shot him a curious look, but he gave me one in return that clearly said, "I'll tell you later."

**"It's the final battle of the day, guys!"**

            The crowd cheered in response to the boy's voice, who I recognized as Ruby, one of Norman's kids.

            Despite being the son of a Gym Leader, he actually liked messing around with the Contests a lot more than I thought he would. He actually got me into the hobby of getting into the "side quests" that a lot of "Avatars" ignore.

            **"And it's going to be a major one, too - the two Trainers before us today played a major part in the Battle of the Citadel, when we knocked down Cyrus' tower and arrested all of the Galactic goons that ran it!"**

 **"Originally, both of them were held captive inside it,"** another voice continued - a girl this time: May. **"But thanks to some quick thinking on the part of two Pokemon, Khrista managed to slip out and start working on a plan that could take out the tower. Before the battle began, she was the one who snuck back into the tower with a team of Pokemon in order to rescue the Psychic-Type Pokemon that were being used as a sensor, in order to prevent the Lake Spirits from teleporting in."**

 **"Then she found and rescued the Electric-Types they were using as generators,"** Ruby added. **"Ash's Pikachu was among them."**

            "I'm glad we didn't have the life sucked out of us," said a voice with a shudder in it.

            "What's past is past," came a reply. It sounded like whoever it was hadn't quite let go of the past, though...

            Oh, wait a sec - I recognize that second voice. It took me only a second to locate the source.

            "Ash Ketchum?" I asked, raising my voice.

            A black-haired boy wearing a baseball cap stiffened upon hearing my voice, and he turned around in order to see who the voice was attached to. The kid's brown eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "No way...you're White!"

            "Maria, actually," I replied evenly. "White's my last name around here."

            **"When we finally managed to get in there, something major was going on,"** May spoke up suddenly. **"Khrista had managed to change Forme!"**

            I stiffened, and my own eyes widened. "She what?"

            Now, I don't know about you guys, but when we say "change Forme" on Neo-Mobius, I'm talking like a Deoxys moving from Normal to Attack, Speed, or Defense-oriented forms. If Khrista was able to do that...something must have happened to her.

            "She got Mew ears and a tail," Ash explained. "And then she saved my life."

            "Saved your life?" I repeated.

            _*Is there an echo?*_ Inferno asked dryly. I made it a point to ignore her.

            Upon seeing the curious look he was getting from me, the boy gained a slightly sheepish expression. "When Cyrus came back, he kinda...managed to make another Red Chain. I went up on top of Spear Pillar with the Lake Spirits to see about stopping him, but he got Dialga, Palkia, Mesprit, Azelf, Uxie...and me."

            "You got hit with-" I cut myself off and shook my head in disbelief. "The Red Chain was crafted for Pokemon not...that." I did my best to suppress a shudder, as Ash's predicament had harkened back to what had happened to me in the Capcom Kingdom.

            Ash gave a grim nod. "Yeah. It let me do some weird stuff, too. At night, I could go through the dreams of others and give them nightmare Darkrai would probably have been proud of, and I could yell at people during the day if I built up enough emotion."

            "When they got into the tower, Khrista was using a GigaVolt on him in order to break him free of the Red Chain's curse," Matthew added.

            My eyebrows shot up. "A GigaVolt? That's a majorly powerful attack! I thought that no Pokemon in the present age could use it!"

            "She needed two Raichu and two Pikachu besides herself in order to make it work," Eliza piped up from where she was sitting.

            "So, what is Khrista, then?" I asked.

            "I've heard her team refer to her as a human Legendary," Grace explained. "She's got access to the different Pokemon Types that are out there - probably all of them."

            As Grace said this, the loudspeakers fell silent; obviously they had finished off talking about Khrista, and were now waiting for her opponent. I had a look on my face that I couldn't believe my ears.

            "That's a lot of power for one form," I finally managed. "And that's what, seventeen Types?"

            "It could be eighteen," Matthew responded. "There's a rumor going around that someone discovered a new Type before Cyrus showed up again. Some sort of Fairy-Type."

            Fairy-Type? What's this world coming to?

            **"And here's Joshua!"** Ruby called as another figure appeared down below. I noted that he, too, had brown hair, recalling that he was Khrista's cousin. I wonder what sort of reaction the two would have if they found out that I was there.

            Ruby quickly finished up what he had to say about Joshua - being that he didn't have any Pokemon-based powers - then added, **"..the others being Matthew, the twins Kira and Alia, and a random number of the rest."**

I stiffened. "Kira and Alia are here, too?"

            Matthew nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much every Pokemon player from school."

            "Oi. And all because Cyrus wanted to find me." I shook my head. "He's really lost his marbles."

            Below, loud cries of Pokemon could suddenly be heard, and I turned my head, catching sight of the first two Pokemon that Khrista and Joshua had released: a Blazikan and a Raichu. On the screen, it showed pictures of the two - Khrista with a large grin, blue eyes bright - and Joshua with a more serious face, his hazel eyes with green speckles looking like they had been through more than he should have.

            "Only a three on three?" I asked, frowning.

            "That's the way it is for this year's tournament," Ash explained. "They were planning on going full-blown six on six next year."

            Below, the Raichu suddenly jumped on her tail and...a wall of water appeared out of nowhere and she started to surf. The Blazikan jumped up and hit her with a Blaze Kick, but the Surf still smacked him hard.

            "Wow," I remarked. "I didn't realize that her Raichu knew Surf."

            "Don't you remember?" Matthew asked from next to me. "You traded her a Pikachu from the Yellow Forest event a while back. She wanted a Pikachu and you got her one that knew Surf completely by accident."

            "Oh, yeah...now I remember."

            Khrista hadn't gotten the Yellow Forest event for HG/SS in time, so she'd wanted some of the action. Well, I gave it to her, and now I see the fruits of her labor.

            The Blazikan suddenly let out a roar, and it charged at Raichu looking like he was ready to punch her lights out.

            Then Khrista shouted something, and Raichu's tail shot up and started to...swing in a tight circle? What was their plan?

            I saw it a moment later when five electric rings were sent flying off her tail and over to the Blazikan like she was playing a game of some sort. Three slid down over the Fire/Fighting-Type, trapping him like he had been tied by rope a smidgen on the tight side. The other two ended up bouncing off and flying into the walls. I could see people flinching back when the sparks threatened to fly up into their faces.

            "Since when was that an attack?" I asked. "It doesn't look like anything I've seen on a battlefield before."

            "She used it when we went to Stark Mountain to rescue Dialga and Palkia!" Grace piped up. "Bound up a Rhyperior and everything!"

            "Rhyperior?" I repeated with a frown. "That shouldn't work. Electric-Type attacks have no effect against Ground-Types."

            "He wasn't a Ground-Type after what evil Palkia did to him," Grace replied seriously.

            What could that mean? Did Palkia...switch the Ryperior's Type or something?

            A loud crackle of electricity resounded through the air, leaving a smell of ozone in my nostrils as a large lightningbolt slammed down on the Blazikan, who had been trying to hop around a moment ago. A fireball that was stuck in his beak was sent flying...towards the stands right below me.

            "No!" I took off running down the stairs towards the bottom of the stands, where the fireball was coming towards. I wouldn't be able to get my whole self in front of it, but my hand would be more than enough.

            My gloved left hand shot out in front of Dawn's face and absorbed the fireball seconds before she would have gotten a nasty burn. She gave me a look of shock and surprise - as did Lucas and Barry, who happened to be sitting down the row from Dawn - but I just offered a smile and turned my attention to other matters.

            "Try to be more careful!" I called, looking down at the two Trainers and their Pokemon. The Blazikan was fainted, but no one seemed to have noticed yet. "Someone could get majorly hurt from an attack like that, and I'm not exactly able to run around the stadium at subsonic speeds."

            Khrista, who had been standing with her back to this part of the stadium before, looked up at me in shock. Right...the armor. I turned and started back up the stairs.

            "Maria?" Khrista's voice was barely heard - maybe she was muttering to herself?

            I paused and looked back at Khrista, then offered her a smile before jogging up the stairs.

            "...Blazikan is unable to battle!" Forrest called out after a moment, sounding a little lost for words. "The winner is Raichu!"

            The crowd let out a roar upon hearing the result, but it sounded like it was only at half-strength from the shock.

            **"Whoa,"** came Ruby's voice. **"Was that...White?"**

"Since when did people only use my adoptive last name?" I muttered as I got to the top.

            Matthew, who looked a little surprised by what I had just done, gave a helpless shrug.

            **"Let's get a closer look with the Stadium Cam,"** May suggested.

            The screen that had been showing the two Avatars and the used Pokemon so far changed to a camera moving up a section of the stands. I turned my head to look at it just as they managed to find me standing next to Matthew.

            **"It is White!"** Ruby exclaimed. **"I'd know that mop of hair anywhere! She never wanted to do anything other than make a ponytail out of it!"**

            I put my hands on my hips and glared up at the screen. "That's because you wanted to lop off a good chunk of it and there was no way that that was going to happen!"

            "He probably can't hear you," Matthew remarked with a foolish grin.

            I rolled my eyes. "He could probably guess what I just said because he suggested so many times that I get a haircut in Hoenn while Sapphire would just demand to see what Pokemon I happened to have on my team right at that moment."

            "So, you met the kids that were in the comic books?"

            "Manga," I corrected. "And yes. They were hanging around just as much as their game counterparts, although there were some that I didn't get to see. Like Dia, Pearl, and Platinum from Sinnoh - they didn't really show up when I was running around. Barry and Lucas did, though."

            There came the sound of a loud rumbling below, and I returned my attention to the battlefield, where Joshua had just ordered a purple Swampert to hit Khrista's Raichu with an Earthquake, knocking the Electric Mouse out of the running.

            Joshua had better hope that purple Swampert is actually a girl.

            "That's got to hurt," I remarked, wincing. "I know it did for Pika and I when we went through Dungeons."

            "So, it's true, then?"

            I looked over at the two Eeveelutions that happened to be sitting nearby. "What do you mean?"

            "That you were a Pokemon at some point," Eliza continued.

            Ah. That.

            I gave a nod. "Yeah. I ended up getting her in the bad future when the planet was paralyzed in darkness. Then I went through the whole 'Explorers of the Sky' scenario and got up to Guildmaster Rank." A sheepish look came over my face. "Then we had a run-in with a certain girl Ranger from Oblivia and Palkia offered to turn me back into a human. Then I started in on the Trainer games."

            "Which Pokemon were you?" Grace asked.

            "Vulpix."

            "Figures," Matthew muttered.

            "But...if you're from our world," Eliza muttered, "then how did you get here?"

            "Made a portal," I replied carelessly.

            Below, the battlefield now looked like someone had taken a chunk of a foresty Route and dropped it there. A Linoone was going off against the purple Swampert.

            "A portal?" Eliza frowned. "How's that possible?"

            "I'm not sure - I can just do it. Liz can too, if that's any consolation. She and I left home at the same time so that we could take care of a few things. She came here to see if she could help."

            "She did!" Grace piped up. "She hit Cyrus in the face with a Hydro Pump!"

            My sister did what?

            "Since when could my sister control water?" I asked, frowning.

            "Since I got here."

            I turned sharply and found myself looking at my sister, who was wearing her usual purple-jacket-white-undershirt outfit. The only thing that was different about it was that she had a belt with six PokeBalls on her waist and a cobalt backpack strap over one shoulder. The rest of the backpack was probably hiding behind her.

            "What do you mean, Liz?" I asked.

            "Some of the Avatars kind of got abilities that we got to mess with," Liz replied. "I've got control over water, Collin's a little Electric-Type, and then there are some people who managed to get themselves turned into Pokemon. Very few of us actually managed to get away without gaining anything." She gave a pointed look in Matthew's direction, and my elder brother started to whistle and look anywhere but my sister.

            "...I see." I sent a look in Matthew's direction, but the eighteen-year-old avoided my gaze. "So we've got a bunch of superheroes on our hands who either will or won't want to come home because they think that they can't."

            "Well, Cyrus' machine kinda did go kablooey," Grace said sheepishly.

            "It's a draw!"

            I looked down most the battlefield, catching sight of the Swampert lying on top of the Linoone. It looked like he dog was covered in mud...a Mud Shot, maybe?

            "I didn't travel by way of his machine," I said after a moment. "I could make a portal that would lead directly to our neighborhood. But I'm not going to do it unless everybody knows that I can and I will bring them home." I looked around the group. "Spread the word - meet by Lien's cave after this fight, and I'll talk to them there."

            The Angeleon and Espeon nodded, while Liz grinned and gave me a thumbs-up.

            "No problem!" my sister declared. With that, she turned and ran off.


	17. Chapter 17

            I wandered around in the lobby, watching as the crowds moved out of the stadium itself and out into the forest - most likely to converse there freely rather than be trapped in the lobby, which was overflowing with people and Pokemon alike. The booths that I had seen when I had come in were open that selling tons of merchandise - plush toys, snacks, Vs. Recorders the shopkeepers said had recorded Stadium Battles on them.

            I could have sworn that Jessie and James - the familiar Team Rocket duo - were running a stand that had plush toys that looked like Trainers - I caught sight of one or two that actually looked like me before I got my Reploid armor.

            How they managed to get plushies of Reshiram or Zekrom too, though, I have no clue.

            I was inspecting the merchandise of one of the stalls - and contemplating taking some of my near-infinite cash from my account in order to get one of them - when I caught sight of Khrista leaning against the Pokemon Center counter as Nurse Joy worked at healing her Pokemon. Putting down the Victini charm I had been inspecting, I walked over.

            "Hey," I stated when I had finally gotten close enough for Khrista to hear me.

            The Avatar - also called the 'human Mew' by fellow Trainers and the Pokemon nearby - turned her head as Nurse Joy returned her PokeBalls to her, catching sight of me.

            Khrista jolted as soon as she locked eyes with me. "Maria?"

            "You asked that before," I replied. "Yeah, it's me."

            "What happened to you?" Khrista reached over and grabbed the three PokeBalls and put them on her belt. "I mean, I didn't think that you wore armor like that before."

            I offered a sad smile. "Kinda happened as soon as I got to the Capcom Kingdom." I glanced around the crowded lobby. "I came here when I heard from a couple friends what was going on, but I found that you guys had already taken care of the problem. Looks like Liz and I weren't able to help each other with our quests."

            Khrista blinked in confusion. "Wait - what?"

            I let out a sigh. "Look, I've heard a lot about what's happened to you guys - including the fact that Cyrus' Warp Ring was destroyed."

            "Warp Ring?" Khrista repeated. "Is that what he used to drag us here?"

            They didn't know what Cyrus had used? Well, if they didn't, then they probably haven't run into any Mobians...yet.

            "Yeah, from what it sounds like. But the thing is, you don't technically need it in order to get home." I gave a wide grin. "Which kind of makes me glad that I'm here to help."

            "What do you mean by that? I mean, we're kinda stuck here. I don't know how you got here, but -"

            "I'll explain over by Lien's cave," I replied. I grabbed Knrista's arm and led her towards the mentioned cave in the middle of the small pond that had been placed there as much for decoration as it was as a home for a certain Being of Emotion.

            "Is it true that you're White?" Khrista burst out as we approached the pond. There was a small crowd of Pokemon and humans standing nearby, with Liz standing there with her curved sword in her right hand. It looked like the blade had been dunked in blue paint.

            I paused and looked back then gave a nod. "Yeah, that's right. I'm the one who represents you guys from Kanto to Unova." I turned and looked back at the group and decided to give an introduction. "Hey, guys! I'm Maria, but most people around here just call me White. Yes, that means that I've been in the area before and creamed Cyrus personally on Mt. Coronet." I slammed a fist into an open palm, grinning.

            "How'd you get here, then?" Alia asked, cocking her head. Her black and pink-striped hair shifted around her shoulders. When they said that people from the neighborhood had been grabbed, they weren't kidding.

            "Same way Liz did." I nodded to Liz, who gave me a smirk. "I made a portal and came straight here after taking care of something on MegaMan's world in Capcom."

            "Capcom?" Joshua repeated. "You went to Capcom?"

            "Yeah." I tapped my chest, producing a metallic clang. "I had a bit of an accident, so I'm not exactly human anymore as a result. But that doesn't mean I can't help you guys get home." I held my arms wide. "So, who wants to go home?"

            The crowd of kids and Pokemon didn't move towards me. Most of them exchanged glances, but some of them just looked at her with blank expressions.

            I let out a sigh and dropped my arms. "Look, if you guys don't want to go home, you can just say so and I won't send you back. But think about what exactly you're missing at home - your real home. There's a reason that I went back home the other two times I've gone home - my mom and dad needed to know what I was doing."

            I snapped the fingers of my right hand, and a familiar blue swirl suddenly appeared next to me.

            Khrista jumped back in surprise and looked at the portal in shock and looked between it and me.

            "So, do you want to go home or not?" I asked, motioning to the portal.

            "I'll go."

            Khrista and I turned our heads, and we looked down at the sky-blue, cloud-collared Eeveelution that stepped out of the crowd.

            "I want to go home and see Mom and Dad again," Grace stated boldly as Eliza moved out and stood next to her.

            "Go ahead," I replied, motioning to the portal.

            Grace grinned, then bounded forward and disappeared into the portal. Her Espeon older sister followed after her.

            The rest of the group looked at each other, considering the actions of the two former-humans. Eventually, the rest of the small crowd of humans and Pokemon filed after them - starting with a Riolu and a Torchic. Eventually, only Khrista, Liz, Matthew, Collin, and Joshua were left.

            "You guys want to go home or not?" I asked, motioning to the portal. "Because I'm starting to lose energy through this."

            Joshua looked over at Khrista, who had been watching the people disappear into the portal.

            Khrista caught sight of her cousin's gaze, and looked over at him. After a moment, she looked over at me.

            "Let's go home," she stated with a nod.

            **Spacial Break**

            As soon as I stepped out of the portal, my senses were bombarded with a whole lot of chronological stuff. Mainly how long I'd been gone from my home.

            "So can I. It must be either spring or summer," Joshua was saying

            "School just ended about a week back," I replied as Liz stepped out of the portal behind me. I promptly closed it behind us.

            "And the only reason I know that is because I latched onto my house's wifi signal for some reason." My face scrunched up in annoyance.

            "A week?" Joshua repeated in surprise. "It felt like longer."

            Looks like I'll have to explain about temporal effects, now.

            "Time tends to...fluctuate between worlds," I explained carefully. "A day here can be an hour in another place, and an hour here could be a year somewhere else. Because time was out of flux in the Pokemon World, it took longer than it was supposed to - a day here is a year there, on average."

            A scowl worked its way over my face. "Which is why I was gone for all of Spring Break because I was there for eight years with amnesia!"

            Matthew laughed at my statement, then looked around the area where we were standing - the street on which Khrista and the rest of us lived.

            A frown came over my year-older brother's face. "Where is everybody else?"

            "We're in our main neighborhood," I replied. "Since everybody's from around here, they took off for their homes to find they're families. Speaking of which..."

            I started off down the street towards one of the houses - a tan two-story on the left side of the street.

            The rest of the group started to follow, and I could hear people muttering in the back, but I made it a point to leave it alone so that the talk was at least somewhat private.

            It wasn't long before I was knocking on the front door of my family's house. When no one answered at first, I decided to use my voice.

            "Anybody home?" I called out in a playful tone.

            The door flew open, and a woman with frizzy black hair and green eyes stood in the entrance. My mom.

            Mom looked over the collected group in surprise and confusion, blinking rapidly for a moment before finally settling on Maria. "Maria? Is that you?"

            "Yeah, Mom," I replied, nodding. "We just got back from...well, Neo-Mobius."

            "Neo-Mobius?" Khrista repeated from the back, frowning. "Why in the world would the realm of Pokemon be called Neo-Mobius?"

            "Long story," I replied without looking back.

            "And your armor isn't?"

            Really?

            "Look, I just had an accident and got turned into a Reploid by Dr. Light in order to save my life," I responded as I turned to look at Khrista, irritated.

            Mom let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hands. "Maria! What happened?!"

            I looked back at her nervously. "With what? This?" I motioned to my armor. "Or this?" I motioned to the others around me, including Khrista. "Because, honestly, I think their story was a lot more terror-inducing than the origin story behind the first Reploid."

            "Reploid," Joshua muttered. "I know everything about MegaMan, and then this happens."

            Well, Josh, I guess that there's more to this universe than meets the eye.

            I heard a snort at the back of my head from Inferno, but she didn't say anything else.

            Mom looked uncertain. "...let's go for the second one. We can talk about your situation later." She zoned in on Matthew. "What happened to you?"

            "Honestly, I only remember enough to fill a page in a notebook," Matthew replied helplessly.

            "He and a lot of others were...hypnotized, I guess, by Cyrus," Khrista stated quickly. "It happened as soon as he got there, so he only remembers from the attack to right now. Some of us were a bit more lucky, since we weren't caught by Cyrus and were able to help with the attack." Khrista sent looks in both Liz's and Joshua's directions, and the two nodded.

            Say what? My brother got hypnotized to do Cyrus' bidding?!

            ...I should have gotten to Neo-Mobius sooner.

            "Haaa...haaa... Hatchoo!"

            Collin suddenly sneezed, sending sparks of electricity flying from his blond hair. Everyone looked over at him with either surprise or amusement.

            I was definitely surprised - Liz had told me he could use electricity now, but I didn't expect it to come out from a sneeze.

            "Collin, what just happened?" Mom asked, coming over to stand by the youngest in the family.

            "I guess I'm getting a cold," Collin responded with a nervous smile.

            "And you need to keep out of sight," Khrista remarked. "Who knows what would happen if people outside of this house found out you were an Electric-Type like Ash?"

            Mom looked over at me and raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged helplessly.

            "It happened while I was in Capcom," I stated. "Collin and Ash weren't like that before, and it definitely wasn't my doing."

            "It was my fault for Ash, because I released him from the Red Chain using a GigaVolt," Khrista replied, shrugging.

            "Kristine!"

            Everyone's heads turned to see a woman with bright red hair and blue eyes running from a blue two-story across the street.

            "Kristine, where have you been?" the woman asked. "Are you all right?"

            "...I'm fine, Mom," Khrista replied cautiously. "And I was taken to another planet, that's all."

            "That's all?!" Mrs. Langstrom looked aghast at the suggestion that it was "just all." "Your father and I were worried sick!"

            "I was fine," Khrista replied, holding up her hands in a warding gesture. "And I wasn't defenseless, what with a Rayquaza at my beck and call. Besides..." A smirk appeared on Khrista's face, and her dull red, yellow Master Ball graphic shirt switched to a sky blue shade. With that, Khrista jumped up into the air...and didn't come back down.

            We looked up at Khrista either with usual expressions or complete surprise.

            "Whoa," I stated, eyes wide. "And I thought I had superpowers."

            Mrs. Langstrom looked like she was about to have a heart attack. "Kristine, get down from there! It's not natural!"

            _"Madame, with all due respect, nothing is truly natural unless it is a part of your life. Khrista's 'natural' is different from yours."_

            Khrista looked up in surprise upon hearing the voice, and her eyes widened when she saw the source. "Chaos? What are you doing here?"

            He told her his name? Or did she learn it from others?

            _"Aurora helped me get here so that I could assist in helping you return to something similar to your previous lives, as some of you aren't quite used to adjusting, while others are."_ Chaos looked down at me, and I waved at the Mewtwo.

            Mrs. Langstrom looked confused, but Mom didn't look quite so put off as a result of the Pokemon's sudden appearance.

            "So, you're one of the Pokemon that my daughter ran into," Mrs. Carlsdale stated, looking up at the hovering Psychic-Type. "She didn't cause you too much trouble when she was with you, did she?"

            I shot her a look of shock, but didn't say anything.

            _"Neither child did anything to annoy or cause trouble,"_ Chaos replied calmly. He looked around the group, then nodded as though to himself. _"It seems I do not need to worry much here, as most of use children taken were affected in some way by what has occurred. I bid you farewell."_

            "Wait!" Khrista exclaimed. "If you can get here, can other Pokemon come here, as well?"

            The Mewtwo turned to look at the still-flying human and regarded her with a curious expression. Then he gave a nod. _"You can bring one Pokemon from our world to yours by using your PokeDex. Although, be warned - some may not come immediately if they are being detained by events of some sort of circumstance."_

            With that, the Legendary disappeared with a flash.

            Wait...he said something about using a person's PokeDex...mine's still up in my room from the Nintendo Kingdom trip...

            Khrista looked over at where the Pokemon had been for a moment longer, then landed and looked at the red backpack on her back.

            Moving swiftly, she took the backpack off and zipped it open and started digging through it. Grinning, she removed a red, DS-like item from her backpack and started to scroll through the Dex entries.

            "Which one will we bring over first?" she asked herself.

            That's a question I happened to be asking myself. It didn't take me too long to consider who, though...


	18. Epilogue

            Maria watched Katie as she paced back and forth in the kitchen, the mother keeping her face in shadow as she did her best to absorb what it was that the Reploid had just told her.

            "It was the only way for me to-"

            "I know, Maria, you've said it enough times already." Katie stopped, holding a hand to her head like she had a headache there. "It's just...I never thought that one of my children would be turned into a robot. It doesn't seem natural."

            "But, for some reason, it feels right to me," Maria stated, placing her left hand on her chest. "I don't know why, but it just does." This thought had been going through her head for some time now - and the Reploid knew that if it hadn't, she would have been extremely nervous when the armor had first showed itself.

            Nervous enough to not have been able to release the Charged Shot in SwordMan's direction.

            Katie lowered her hand and looked over at her eldest daughter with a calm, but also concerned look. "How are we going to break the news to the rest of the family? Surely, they'll notice-"

            "Mom." Maria gained a serious expression. "Dr. Light made it so that I can still eat the foods I ate before I turned out like this. If anyone's going to notice, it'd only be because my Light Refractor ran out of juice or something." The Reploid got out of her chair and approached her mother. "I can keep my robotic aspects hidden, and I plan to for as long as I can."

            "But how long is that going to be?" Katie raised an eyebrow, looking at Maria with a curious expression. "Liz is already suspicious of you - and, like it or not, we've been hearing rumors."

            "Rumors?" Maria repeated, raising an eyebrow herself. "Rumors about what?"

            Katie let out a sigh. "It seems that the Pokemon Company is planning on doing a possilbe temporary merge with SEGA for a game. If anything, it might have something to do with what you did in the past."

            The Reploid frowned. "Well. If Capcom's mentioned in that merging, then my secret won't stay secret for long. As it is, I'm probably going to end up being exposed to the public if any games based off my adventures come out."

            "And who knows when that's going to happen," Morgen declared as he sauntered into the kitchen and flopped down into the chair Maria had been sitting in a moment before. He was grinning from the story the Reploid had told them about. "Depending on how things go, you might end up revealing your robotic capabilities right before the game comes out."

            "Dad, I am not planning on doing that," Maria responded. "I know you're excited about the fact that I'm technically a part of one of your more favorite worlds, but that doesn't mean that you can go about bragging about it."

            "Yet," Morgen corrected, still grinning. "There'll come a time when you won't be able to keep things secret forever, you know."

            "I know. I'm just not planning on saying anything about it anytime soon," Maria responded boldly.

            Morgen and Katie looked like they were both going to say something to add onto Maria's statement, but they were interrupted by a small, yellow and white pixie-like creature appearing in the center of the room.

            _"Maria,"_ the creature warned. _"The monster has appeared and is attempting to warp reality, as you predicted. A Trainer from this side of the dimensional barrier - in your neighborhood - has managed to bring it with her to Unova. I request your help in tracking it down."_

            "No problem, Merlin," Maria replied. She snatched a device off the kitchen table and took off out of the house, the Uxie following close behind.

            **Time Break**

            Maria stepped into her bedroom, smiling triumphantly to herself as she dropped her Unova-style PokeDex on her desk. "That's Missingno taken care of, at least. Now there's all that cloning off of GTS, and then the sources of that particular problem."

            "That was quite the feat, requesting for Arceus' assistance. Not many have the connections to call upon a Pokemon that is considered a god."

            Maria froze, her hand still on the Unova-style PokeDex. Slowly, the Reploid turned, catching sight of an unfamiliar figure sitting on her bed: a girl with chocolate-colored hair and deep green eyes, a red backpack by her side that was spilling out notebooks.

            "Who are you?" the Reploid asked slowly, eyeing the stranger.

            "Hmmm?" The girl looked up from the notebook in her lap, her eyes widening upon finding Maria looking at her. "Uh-oh. You're not supposed to be able to see me."

            "Well, I can," Maria replied, putting her hands on her hips. "So, answer me. Who are you?"

            "You can call me Scribe," the other replied.

            "Okay...and what are you doing in my room?"

            "I make it a point to record everything that happens in other dimensions that are not my own," Scribe stated simply. "I stopped here to finish what I had written concerning your previous World-Jump."

            "Is that statement working its way around all dimensions, now?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow.

            "It has been for some time - it's just that an official one hasn't appeared in centuries." Scribe shrugged. "You and Khrista are the first to take the Lanes Between by storm since...well, forever." Her eyes widened slightly, and she snapped her fingers. "Which reminds me."

            "Reminds you of what?" Maria's eyes narrowed slightly.

            Scribe grabbed an envelope off Maria's pillow and tossed it at the Reploid. "I've been asked to give this to you."

            "What's in it?"

            "That's for you to find out."

            Maria pulled a white card out of the envelope, frowning at what was on the cover, upon opening it, however, the Reploid's eyes widened, and a surprised look came over her face, followed by an excited grin.

            "This is going to be fun," she noted. The Reploid looked up at her bed, only to blink in confusion upon seeing that her visitor...was gone.

            "Who was that?" she murmured.

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place at the same time as another one of mine (which I will post here while I'm doing these massive updates.). Maria and Liz aren't the only World Jumpers on their street, let's just put it that way. ;)
> 
> Also, I like the story that the MegaMan video games tell, not so much the games themselves. I've honestly never played them, which...puts me in an odd predicament, doesn't it? I apologize if I got anything wrong when I wrote this....four? Five? Six years ago? It's been a while. The Pokemon and Sonic parts of this story are valid as well -- you'll see why when we get to that point.


End file.
